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#1
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Changing Coolant Sunfire 2.4L
I have always done coolant changes on my cars but with my 2000 Pontiac
Sunfire with 2.4L engine I decided to have a GM dealer do it. I suggested they flush it as well. It took about an hour. When I got home I decided to look at how they did it. I could only find evidence that they removed the pressur cap on the pressurized coolant bottle and the rad drain had been opened. The block drain plug hadn't been touched and I couldn't see evidence of any hoses being removed. Could somebody tell me what technique a typical large GM dealership would have used on my car to do this job? Thanks, Mike |
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#2
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"mike" > wrote in message
ups.com... > I have always done coolant changes on my cars but with my 2000 Pontiac > Sunfire with 2.4L engine I decided to have a GM dealer do it. I > suggested they flush it as well. It took about an hour. When I got home > I decided to look at how they did it. I could only find evidence that > they removed the pressur cap on the pressurized coolant bottle and the > rad drain had been opened. The block drain plug hadn't been touched and > I couldn't see evidence of any hoses being removed. Could somebody > tell me what technique a typical large GM dealership would have used on > my car to do this job? La-Machine!!! >>Grin<< If your experienced and you know what your doing >> do it yourself, it's your car! BBA |
#3
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"mike" > wrote in message ups.com... >I have always done coolant changes on my cars but with my 2000 Pontiac > Sunfire with 2.4L engine I decided to have a GM dealer do it. I > suggested they flush it as well. It took about an hour. When I got home > I decided to look at how they did it. I could only find evidence that > they removed the pressur cap on the pressurized coolant bottle and the > rad drain had been opened. The block drain plug hadn't been touched and > I couldn't see evidence of any hoses being removed. Could somebody > tell me what technique a typical large GM dealership would have used on > my car to do this job? > Thanks, > Mike > Why did you change your mind and let the dealership do the coolant change? What made it different this time? Is there something radically different about the 2.4L that makes it difficult or needs special knowledge? It sounds like you know what you're doing, next time you should go ahead and just do it yourself. It takes the guesswork out of whether someone did the job right or not. (for the most part.. haha). If the hoses haven't been touched, I can only guess that htey drained the rad, filled it with water, warmed up the car until the thermostat opened, drained it again, possibily repeated and then filled with 50/50. Or it's possible that this dealership actually pays attention to detail and put everything back the way they found it. =o) -Bruce |
#4
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Bruce Chang wrote: > "mike" > wrote in message > ups.com... > >I have always done coolant changes on my cars but with my 2000 Pontiac > > Sunfire with 2.4L engine I decided to have a GM dealer do it. I > > suggested they flush it as well. It took about an hour. When I got home > > I decided to look at how they did it. I could only find evidence that > > they removed the pressur cap on the pressurized coolant bottle and the > > rad drain had been opened. The block drain plug hadn't been touched and > > I couldn't see evidence of any hoses being removed. Could somebody > > tell me what technique a typical large GM dealership would have used on > > my car to do this job? > > Thanks, > > Mike > > > Why did you change your mind and let the dealership do the coolant change? > What made it different this time? Is there something radically different > about the 2.4L that makes it difficult or needs special knowledge? It > sounds like you know what you're doing, next time you should go ahead and > just do it yourself. It takes the guesswork out of whether someone did the > job right or not. (for the most part.. haha). If the hoses haven't been > touched, I can only guess that htey drained the rad, filled it with water, > warmed up the car until the thermostat opened, drained it again, possibily > repeated and then filled with 50/50. Or it's possible that this dealership > actually pays attention to detail and put everything back the way they found > it. =o) > > -Bruce Most dealers use a machine they hook up to the radiator and engine and pump out the old coolant (engine running) and pump in new coolant. Some add a flush cycle before adding the new coolant. This process usually does not do anything to the overflow tank. Ernie |
#5
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-- BBA °?° BBA's RC Site - http://www.billybadassrc.com When Privacy Matters -- http://www.epic.org "Bruce Chang" > wrote in message . com... > > "mike" > wrote in message > ups.com... > >I have always done coolant changes on my cars but with my 2000 Pontiac > > Sunfire with 2.4L engine I decided to have a GM dealer do it. I > > suggested they flush it as well. It took about an hour. When I got home > > I decided to look at how they did it. I could only find evidence that > > they removed the pressur cap on the pressurized coolant bottle and the > > rad drain had been opened. The block drain plug hadn't been touched and > > I couldn't see evidence of any hoses being removed. Could somebody > > tell me what technique a typical large GM dealership would have used on > > my car to do this job? > > Thanks, > > Mike > > > Why did you change your mind and let the dealership do the coolant change? > What made it different this time? Is there something radically different > about the 2.4L that makes it difficult or needs special knowledge? It > sounds like you know what you're doing, next time you should go ahead and > just do it yourself. It takes the guesswork out of whether someone did the > job right or not. (for the most part.. haha). If the hoses haven't been > touched, I can only guess that htey drained the rad, filled it with water, > warmed up the car until the thermostat opened, drained it again, possibily > repeated and then filled with 50/50. Or it's possible that this dealership Not even that --La-Machine = just plug in the coolant recycler -- flip the switch to on -- run the engine a bit and boom-viola-done! BBA |
#6
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"Billy Bad Assr©" > wrote in message ... > > > -- > BBA > °?° > BBA's RC Site - http://www.billybadassrc.com > When Privacy Matters -- http://www.epic.org > "Bruce Chang" > wrote in message > . com... >> >> "mike" > wrote in message >> ups.com... >> >I have always done coolant changes on my cars but with my 2000 Pontiac >> > Sunfire with 2.4L engine I decided to have a GM dealer do it. I >> > suggested they flush it as well. It took about an hour. When I got home >> > I decided to look at how they did it. I could only find evidence that >> > they removed the pressur cap on the pressurized coolant bottle and the >> > rad drain had been opened. The block drain plug hadn't been touched and >> > I couldn't see evidence of any hoses being removed. Could somebody >> > tell me what technique a typical large GM dealership would have used on >> > my car to do this job? >> > Thanks, >> > Mike >> > >> Why did you change your mind and let the dealership do the coolant >> change? >> What made it different this time? Is there something radically different >> about the 2.4L that makes it difficult or needs special knowledge? It >> sounds like you know what you're doing, next time you should go ahead and >> just do it yourself. It takes the guesswork out of whether someone did >> the >> job right or not. (for the most part.. haha). If the hoses haven't >> been >> touched, I can only guess that htey drained the rad, filled it with >> water, >> warmed up the car until the thermostat opened, drained it again, >> possibily >> repeated and then filled with 50/50. Or it's possible that this >> dealership > > Not even that --La-Machine = just plug in the coolant recycler -- flip the > switch to on -- run the engine a bit and boom-viola-done! > > BBA > > How does "La-Machine" hook up? You have to attach it to a coolant hose and the OP said it looks like none of the hoses had been removed. If that's the case, then "La-Machine" wasn't used. |
#7
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Hi Bruce,
This system is a bit different to what I'm use to. The coolant recovery bottle is pressurized; the pressure cap is on it. There is no cap on the rad. There are a couple of extra air bleed hoses which feed into it. The system was filled with GM's Dexcool. From what I have read it is extremely important to get all air out of a system filled with Dexcool since air mixed in will cause sludging. Getting at the block drain plug is a bitch. There is also an air bleed mentioned in the workshop manual but I was unable to find it. So I thought who better than the GM dealer? Yeh, I know! |
#8
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Hi Ernie,
Would you have any idea how this machine attaches? I would be very interested in knowing. |
#9
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mike wrote:
> This system is a bit different to what I'm use to. The coolant > recovery bottle is pressurized; the pressure cap is on it. There is > no cap on the rad. There are a couple of extra air bleed hoses which > feed into it. The system was filled with GM's Dexcool. From what I > have read it is extremely important to get all air out of a system > filled with Dexcool since air mixed in will cause sludging. Getting > at the block drain plug is a bitch. There is also an air bleed > mentioned in the workshop manual but I was unable to find it. So I > thought who better than the GM dealer? Yeh, I know! The dealer will most likely use a machine to exchange the coolant. It usually hooks up in series to the upper rad hose. That would be the only item that would have been taken off and re-installed. Doing it this way doesn't get any air into the system as it pushes fresh coolant in behind the old coolant as it is pushed out. Your particular vehicle doesn't really have any issues with air locks...that engine and cooling system pretty much self bleeds itself. If anyone takes the time to actually look at the hard coolant overflow bottles on late model GM vehicles....they would see quite quickly why it's virtually impossible to "clean" out those bottles. Ian |
#10
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Hi Ian,
What your describing is somewhat reassuring! I'll check the upper rad hose again. In my case they also did a rad flush first. Is that possible using this machine? Mike |
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