[Z06] Coolant Change DIY
05-25-2016, 08:48 AM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Coolant Change DIY
Does anybody have a writeup with pics of doing a coolant change on a Z06 ? Also is it possible to do a coolant change without elevating the car ? Thanks.
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05-25-2016, 10:02 AM
Tech Contributor
Member Since: Oct 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
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If you are small enough to crawl under the car I suppose you could do it without raising the car. You need to open the drain plug on the passenger side bottom of the radiator and you will need a bucket to catch the drained fluid. You also need to remove the cap on the coolant reservoir. The coolant is toxic so you need to keep it away from animals. What I do is drain the coolant close the drain, refill with water from my hose (despite what some say about distilled water it only needs to be drinkable water), run the engine until the thermostat opens (can tell by feeling upper radiator hose), shut off engine and drain coolant again. Repeat until the drained fluid runs clear (this gets the old coolant out of the engine block and heater). Once the drained fluid is clear, close the drain for the final time and add exactly half the coolant system capacity in straight Dexcool (orange) and then top off with water until full. Once the system is full reinstall the cap and let the engine get hot. Rev it to 2500 or so a few times to burp out any air bubbles and when it is at temp turn off and let cool. Once cool check coolant level and top off with water as required. Do not use the 50% mix coolant found at autoparts stores as this method gets you a 50% mix. The premix 50% coolant is only useful if you know you have a 50% mix in the system when you start and don't flush the 3 quarts out of the engine block. If you do use it and flush out the block then you will have less than 50% mix in the system.
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
05-25-2016, 10:02 AM
#2
Tech Contributor
Member Since: Oct 1999
Location: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Posts: 40,078
Received 8,918 Likes
on
5,327 Posts
If you are small enough to crawl under the car I suppose you could do it without raising the car. You need to open the drain plug on the passenger side bottom of the radiator and you will need a bucket to catch the drained fluid. You also need to remove the cap on the coolant reservoir. The coolant is toxic so you need to keep it away from animals. What I do is drain the coolant close the drain, refill with water from my hose (despite what some say about distilled water it only needs to be drinkable water), run the engine until the thermostat opens (can tell by feeling upper radiator hose), shut off engine and drain coolant again. Repeat until the drained fluid runs clear (this gets the old coolant out of the engine block and heater). Once the drained fluid is clear, close the drain for the final time and add exactly half the coolant system capacity in straight Dexcool (orange) and then top off with water until full. Once the system is full reinstall the cap and let the engine get hot. Rev it to 2500 or so a few times to burp out any air bubbles and when it is at temp turn off and let cool. Once cool check coolant level and top off with water as required. Do not use the 50% mix coolant found at autoparts stores as this method gets you a 50% mix. The premix 50% coolant is only useful if you know you have a 50% mix in the system when you start and don't flush the 3 quarts out of the engine block. If you do use it and flush out the block then you will have less than 50% mix in the system.
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
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05-26-2016, 07:32 AM
#4
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
If you are small enough to crawl under the car I suppose you could do it without raising the car. You need to open the drain plug on the passenger side bottom of the radiator and you will need a bucket to catch the drained fluid. You also need to remove the cap on the coolant reservoir. The coolant is toxic so you need to keep it away from animals. What I do is drain the coolant close the drain, refill with water from my hose (despite what some say about distilled water it only needs to be drinkable water), run the engine until the thermostat opens (can tell by feeling upper radiator hose), shut off engine and drain coolant again. Repeat until the drained fluid runs clear (this gets the old coolant out of the engine block and heater). Once the drained fluid is clear, close the drain for the final time and add exactly half the coolant system capacity in straight Dexcool (orange) and then top off with water until full. Once the system is full reinstall the cap and let the engine get hot. Rev it to 2500 or so a few times to burp out any air bubbles and when it is at temp turn off and let cool. Once cool check coolant level and top off with water as required. Do not use the 50% mix coolant found at autoparts stores as this method gets you a 50% mix. The premix 50% coolant is only useful if you know you have a 50% mix in the system when you start and don't flush the 3 quarts out of the engine block. If you do use it and flush out the block then you will have less than 50% mix in the system.
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
Last edited by b4i4getit; 05-26-2016 at 07:36 AM.
05-26-2016, 09:14 PM
#5
If you are small enough to crawl under the car I suppose you could do it without raising the car. You need to open the drain plug on the passenger side bottom of the radiator and you will need a bucket to catch the drained fluid. You also need to remove the cap on the coolant reservoir. The coolant is toxic so you need to keep it away from animals. What I do is drain the coolant close the drain, refill with water from my hose (despite what some say about distilled water it only needs to be drinkable water), run the engine until the thermostat opens (can tell by feeling upper radiator hose), shut off engine and drain coolant again. Repeat until the drained fluid runs clear (this gets the old coolant out of the engine block and heater). Once the drained fluid is clear, close the drain for the final time and add exactly half the coolant system capacity in straight Dexcool (orange) and then top off with water until full. Once the system is full reinstall the cap and let the engine get hot. Rev it to 2500 or so a few times to burp out any air bubbles and when it is at temp turn off and let cool. Once cool check coolant level and top off with water as required. Do not use the 50% mix coolant found at autoparts stores as this method gets you a 50% mix. The premix 50% coolant is only useful if you know you have a 50% mix in the system when you start and don't flush the 3 quarts out of the engine block. If you do use it and flush out the block then you will have less than 50% mix in the system.
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
05-28-2016, 11:22 PM
#7
Last edited by z10; 05-28-2016 at 11:23 PM.
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corvettejoe09 (04-10-2022)
05-29-2016, 05:26 PM
#8
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
I just did this last week. Rad drain is at the bottom right (passenger side). I did jack up the right side to make it easier to get to the plug. After I slid a drip pan under the drain. I lowered the jack and then raised the rear a few inches to aid draining. Also, I did this with a cold engine. Pretty simple actually.
05-31-2016, 12:53 AM
#9
Melting Slicks
If you are small enough to crawl under the car I suppose you could do it without raising the car. You need to open the drain plug on the passenger side bottom of the radiator and you will need a bucket to catch the drained fluid. You also need to remove the cap on the coolant reservoir. The coolant is toxic so you need to keep it away from animals. What I do is drain the coolant close the drain, refill with water from my hose (despite what some say about distilled water it only needs to be drinkable water), run the engine until the thermostat opens (can tell by feeling upper radiator hose), shut off engine and drain coolant again. Repeat until the drained fluid runs clear (this gets the old coolant out of the engine block and heater). Once the drained fluid is clear, close the drain for the final time and add exactly half the coolant system capacity in straight Dexcool (orange) and then top off with water until full. Once the system is full reinstall the cap and let the engine get hot. Rev it to 2500 or so a few times to burp out any air bubbles and when it is at temp turn off and let cool. Once cool check coolant level and top off with water as required. Do not use the 50% mix coolant found at autoparts stores as this method gets you a 50% mix. The premix 50% coolant is only useful if you know you have a 50% mix in the system when you start and don't flush the 3 quarts out of the engine block. If you do use it and flush out the block then you will have less than 50% mix in the system.
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
Once done you are good for 5 years or 150000 miles whichever comes first. Dex is that good.
Bill
I will be doing my new rebuilt heads.. guides/ported/milled LS7 head swap by end of June! Over 3 days of vacation or I may also be on strike!!!. OUCH!
Last edited by REDZED2; 05-31-2016 at 12:56 AM.
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jimbob8915 (05-16-2019)
05-31-2016, 08:41 PM
#11
06-01-2016, 02:40 PM
#12
Advanced
11-20-2017, 03:40 PM
#13
I like Bill's coolant flushing method (post #2, above), but do support using distilled water whenever possible. The reason for using distilled water is that it has no contaminants. That means you will have far less build up of crap within your cooling system. I also like the comment from "wantbluC6" (post #9, above)! I'm about to do my LS7 head swap. Having pure water to deal with sounds a lot more appealing than the sticky mess of coolant! So I'll be doing half of my flush before I do the heads, and finish the flush after the heads are swapped out.
11-20-2017, 05:08 PM
#14
Whether I'd used distilled or not for the radiator depends entirely on where I lived at the time. The tap water in South Carolina was very soft (i.e., very few minerals) while the water here in the Phoenix area is incredibly hard. Even when using softened water I get more water spots on my car now than I did in South Carolina using tap.
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Fisch (04-27-2020)
04-15-2019, 09:20 AM
#16
Instructor
Hi Guys, for what it's worth … I just got back from Barrett Jackson Palm Beach and while I was there I happened to visit the Prestone vendor booth. In talking to one of the Reps he said they (Prestone) makes the Dex Cool for GM. I haven't verified that yet. Anyway, when I asked him what was the difference between Dex and the regular Prestone in the yellow bottle, he said the Dex is actually the Prestone in the yellow bottle without the additional corrosion inhibitors that are added to the regular Prestone. He recommended using the regular Prestone - and they even manufacture and market a Dex Cool replacement by Prestone (again, not containing the corrosion inhibitors).
All of this might be true as I have seen there apparently is a big problem with users of Dex Cool having their cars' coolant systems clog and corrode. A google search of the subject turns up talk of class action lawsuits and the such. Again, I just heard of this so take it for what it's worth. Just passing along some food for thought for any of us looking to change their coolant. Tom
All of this might be true as I have seen there apparently is a big problem with users of Dex Cool having their cars' coolant systems clog and corrode. A google search of the subject turns up talk of class action lawsuits and the such. Again, I just heard of this so take it for what it's worth. Just passing along some food for thought for any of us looking to change their coolant. Tom
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pdc001 (04-15-2019)
04-15-2019, 10:27 AM
#17
Racer
On the topic of radiator coolant change, could I get some input as to why you would NOT refill the system with 100% coolant versus 50/50. Does adding water have a benefit other than saving some money?
A side note, after driving my Z after the first week my temps were higher than I preferred. I put in a pint of Wetting agent and now the temps are down nicely. I also use the wetting agent in my big block C2 and the results were amazing, bringing down temps 20 - 30 degrees. Before using the additive, sitting in traffic was an excercise in anxiety. I’d often lose a half gallon from the expansion tank. No more.
A side note, after driving my Z after the first week my temps were higher than I preferred. I put in a pint of Wetting agent and now the temps are down nicely. I also use the wetting agent in my big block C2 and the results were amazing, bringing down temps 20 - 30 degrees. Before using the additive, sitting in traffic was an excercise in anxiety. I’d often lose a half gallon from the expansion tank. No more.
04-15-2019, 12:11 PM
#18
Racer
I’m no expert but I believe the water cools better, however you want the coolant for antifreeze capabilities and some lubrication, some in warmer climates are running mainly water with an additive for lubrication if I understand correctly
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KurtsZ06 (04-15-2019)
05-16-2019, 09:07 PM
#20
thing knower
I'd advise picking up a cheap compressor vacuum system from amaz n.... don't want trapped air causing heat pockets in the block...
I thought the drive it and burp method was fine until I got a vac system and saw how much additional air was purged...
just a thought
drew
I thought the drive it and burp method was fine until I got a vac system and saw how much additional air was purged...
just a thought
drew
Last edited by drewz06; 05-16-2019 at 09:10 PM.