[StavrosAMG]

Hello.
I want to try changing to coolant on my Exige 07 by myself. I there a post on here that has it step by step.
Any warnings from any of you vetrans on coolant change.
Thank you in advance
Ciao

 

[bri3d]

Bleeding the coolant is a pain without an Airlift or similar vacuum fill device. Lots of bleed locations and hard to get the air out.

 

[Mr.C]

There is plenty of information on here

I google that for you

 

[aschen]

Cliff notes:

1. buy airlift tool, cheap one fine
2. use peak global lifetime from walgreens, seriously walgreens

 

[Nessal]

1. Jack up car on all fours.
2. Take off lower access panel in front and rear.
3. Open the drain from the block. Catch coolant.
4. Take off the driver's side coolant hose. Catch coolant.
5. Reattach hose and close block.
6. Attach airlift tool and refill with distilled water.
7. Start car and get coolant up to temp(takes a while).
8. Turn on heater to max to cycle the core. Temp readings should be 200f+ before the heater is turned on.
8. Repeat above steps twice with distilled water.
9. Fill with coolant.
10. Done.

 

[Ziker]

I would not make a special effort to change the fluid. People leave this coolant in toyotas for 300k with no problems. If you were upgrading your radiator or removing the coolant U then I would change it.

 

[Callsign_Vega]

Cliff notes:

1. buy airlift tool, cheap one fine
2. use peak global lifetime from walgreens, seriously walgreens

Agreed.

Bought this from Amazon:

Amazon.com: UView 550000 Airlift Cooling System Leak Checker and Airlock Purge Tool Kit: Automotive


And to my surprise, my local Walgreens had plenty of Peak Global Lifetime on the shelf (50/50). It's very highly rated coolant that is perfect for our cars.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

The hardest part is getting all the air bled out after refilling. It's not too bad but can be frustrating!

 

[Ziker]

Bleeding the air out of this car is not that difficult. The technique I used is to fill it, Run it and while its still cold put your mouth on the reservoir and blow into it. put your finger over the overflow hose of the tank to plug it. This is used by a few lotus specific companies I spoke with. Sounds crude but it works quickly.

 

[LJ60]

I used the help of a wet and dry shop vac when i did mine. I used it to help get all the old coolant out and to help burp the system when done

 

[Callsign_Vega]

Run it and while its still cold put your mouth on the reservoir and blow into it.

I try and avoid putting my mouth on toxic chemical reservoir's.

 

[luxige]

I try and avoid putting my mouth on toxic chemical reservoir's.

That's NOT what she said!

Anyway, I use the 'caveman blowdown' method too. But I take a scrap of plastic sheet and cut a small X in the center. Put that over the reservoir opening and blow through it. Avoids the dain bramage and makes short work of getting *most* of the air out. Then I go for a short drive and burp a little air out at the front bleed valve. Job's done.

 

[glb]

I used the help of a wet and dry shop vac when i did mine. I used it to help get all the old coolant out and to help burp the system when done

Cool. Could you provide details on this procedure?

 

[accordoum]

Did the coolant flush today and refilled it no problem. Follow the manual instruction and don't be in hurry, it will refill by gravity. I raised the rear a little higher and found out it was easier that way for the refill. It took me maybe 2 hours to refill...

this is good help too:
http://www.beddysblog.com/lotusmanuals/Elise Exige S2 files/Engine cooling.pdf

http://www.billswebspace.com/EliseCoolantFlow.pdf

I did remove the front right fender to access the bleed screw.

 

[driftwood]

I raised the rear a little higher and found out it was easier that way for the refill.

that's what I did as well... maybe took 20 minutes for the car to warm up & open the t-stat from a cold start & burped pretty much immediately after that...

i got a little nervous after reading some of the hassle stories about flushing coolant on these, but it couldn't have gone much easier for me :shrug: