[MattG]

I want to change my Elise's coolant myself, and purchased a Stant pressure tester (Amazon.com: Stant Inc. 12270 Cooling System and Pressure Cap Tester Set: Automotive) to enable me to do this as per the shop manual instructions. I thought I had purchased the right adapter, 12027, but was wrong. Does anyone know which Stant adapter fits the Elise? At this point I'm guessing 12025, but am hoping for more confidence before ordering yet another adapter...

 

[MattG]

Anyone?

 

[MattG]

Well, it's not the 12025, that doesn't work either.

 

[MattG]

Official word from Stant is that they don't make anything that will work here!
MityVac makes a more expensive coolant system tester, and does offer an adapter that will work - MVA111.
Mityvac

However, that cap is only available as part of a $100 kit of various adapters, and would require substantial modifications to the pressure tester I already bought. So, I'm going to try MityVac's 'universal' tester, MV4506. From the pictures, the concept is solid and would work, only question is, does it neck down small enough to work in this case. I'll report back here with the results. I've received no responses to this thread so far, but have to believe this is a problem more Elise owners will face if/when they decide to change the coolant themselves. I do wonder what everyone is is doing for their coolant changes...maybe this if overkill, but I know air bleeding is critical and difficult on a mid engine car, and I want to do it right.

Edit: MityVac MCA400 is supposed to be an adapter between MVA111 and a standard radiator flange.

 

[MattG]

Scratch that...I scaled up the product image of the MV4506 and, even with uncertainty over accuracy of the size of the photo, it looks way too large to fit. Back to square one...

Edit: Found that you can order just MVA111 and MVA400 individually via A&A Hydraulic Repair Company for the best in Mityvac parts., but found a different adapter elsewhere, $30 plus shipping. Let's hope this one works...

 

[ChrisH]

Keep letting us know how it goes. I need to change my coolant soon.

 

[Ripple]

I've received no responses to this thread so far, but have to believe this is a problem more Elise owners will face if/when they decide to change the coolant themselves. I do wonder what everyone is is doing for their coolant changes...maybe this if overkill, but I know air bleeding is critical and difficult on a mid engine car, and I want to do it right.

Nope, not overkill but doing the job correctly. There should be quite a few of us getting ready to do this. 4yrs is what Lotus says the lifetime of the coolant is. I've already contacted my local dealer and spoke with the tech. He says draining isn't the issue, it's purging all the air out of the system. If it's not done properly then it will effect cooling. I was quoted $350 for the job and after reading what needs to be done I'm considering it. I don't think of myself as a novice when it comes to doing maintenance and repairs but this seems a lot more involved and for the time it takes, $350 is looking better and better. Good luck and us know how it turns out.

 

[ChrisH]

I just read the service manual regarding changing the coolant (section KH.3), and it says nothing about using a pressure tester. What instructions are you using that say to use a pressure tester?

Lotus Elise Service Manual's Instructions:
KH.3 - DRAIN/REFILL PROCEDURE

To drain the engine cooling system:
1. Remove the undertray from beneath the nose of the car.
2. Disconnect the radiator feed and return hoses from the front ends of the thro' chassis pipes, and collect the draining coolant. Remove the header tank cap to speed the operation.
3. Open the drain tap at the right hand rear of the cylinder block.
Note that draining of the heater matrix is not easily possible with the unit 'in situ', and that if draining for the purpose of coolant change, this volume should be disregarded.

To refill the system:
1 Refit the hoses to the feed and return pipes and close the cylinder block drain tap.
2. Remove the right hand front wheelarch liner and open the air bleed plug on the radiator outlet hose. From within the engine bay, open the air bleed plug in the heater return hose at the left hand rear of the engine bay.
3. Fill with the recommended coolant mix via the header tank and close the bleed plugs when a steady stream of coolant is expelled.
4. Start the engine and allow to idle, and periodically open the bleed plugs to allow any trapped air to be expunged. Top up the header tank when necessary, and fit the pressure cap when required to prevent overflow. When the cooling fans have cut in and then out, stop the engine and allow to cool. Recheck coolant level when fully cold.

 

[MattG]

Chris, you're a genius! Or maybe I'm just an idiot. I was looking at some coolant change instructions that I printed out some time ago and had set aside for later use, and it very clearly shows using a pressure tester to circulate the coolant as part of the bleeding process. It's section KG.3. After reading your comment above, I decided to go back and check my PDF version of the service manual...in which I cannot find any section KG, just KH which has the instructions you quoted above. So where (and why) the heck did I print KG? Not sure. However, looking at the system overview image, I think this is for the Rover powertrain, not the Toyota. At this point I might as well go ahead and use the pressure tester to get some air out of the system if possible, but it sounds like it's not necessary. Doh!

 

[kmt63]

you can use the tester for checking pressure.to see if you have any leaks.so its not a total waste.

 

[MattG]

Yeah, true. I think it'll also help when filling the coolant, I can use the pump to circulate coolant and bleed the air rather than having the car running during that step. Though I'll try bleeding air with the car running, just to be sure!

 

[MattG]

Success! Adapter number FZ-148 from Assenmacher Specialty Tools works! It screws in to the coolant reservoir perfectly, and provides a typical radiator flange that the Stant 12270 pressure tester easily hooked up to. FZ-148 cost about $30; I bought it from Tooltopia but it's found elsewhere as well.

For the record, FZ-148 is marketed as fitting the Celica GT-S 2000, MR2 Spyder 2000, Prius 2001-2005, 2006 RAV 4 (4-Cylinder) and 2008 Highlander Hybrid.

Edit: adding search words: searchcoolingsystemtester - Tim