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DIY Radiator Flush DIY Radiator Flush / Coolant Drain for BMW 318i e46 How to Flush a Radiator / Coolant Drain yourself!
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Prices:
Professional labour costs for Radiator Flush / Coolant Drain - £55 (private) or £155 (BMW) - per hour X 1 hours
DIY costs for Radiator Flush / Coolant Drain - £20 (nearly enough Coolant and Ionised water for a second flush)
Difficulty Level: Easy
Approximate time for this project: 2 hours
| ITEMS | INFORMATION | OUTLET | QUANTITY | PRICE* |
| Coolant | 5 Litre, Anti Freeze & Summer Coolant | http://www.halfords.com | 1 | £16 |
| Ionised Water | 5 Litre (also sometimes called Distilled water) | http://www.halfords.com | 1 | £4 |
| Flat Head Screwdriver | 1 | |||
| Phillips Screwdriver | 1 | |||
| Flat knife type tool | 1 | |||
| Car Jack | 1 | |||
| Jack Stands / Axle Stands | Optional, however recommended for safety reasons | http://www.halfords.com | 2 | £15 |
*some prices & figures are approximate
| 1) | Assemble your kit :) |
| Below is the total kit I used. As you can see, there aren't many tools required for this job at all. The bottles are 5 litre each, however you only require about 2.5 litres of each to fill the Radiator. | |
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| 2) | Get the car up on Axle / Jack stands |
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| Just a photo to demonstrate how I got the car on the stands. | |
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| 3) | How it looks |
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Best for it to be on 2 stands, so all the water can drain. Having the car on Axle / Jack stands is optional. I used it as I could not get the screw driver underneath the car to open the splash shield screws. If you have a short philips screw driver, then you should be able to get away with no Axle / Jack stands. |
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| 4) | Radiator cap location |
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| Just to show the location of the radiator cap and bleed / vent scew. | |
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| 5) | Radiator cap and black bleed screw |
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| Close up of the Radiator cap and the bleed / vent screw. | |
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| 6) | Engine splash sheild |
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| This is the splash shield from underneath the car. This is to show where and how many screws and clips are located. The clips are the top 3 and the remaining are the screws. |
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| 7) | Splash sheild being removed |
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| Splash sheild in the process of being removed, using the flat head screwdriver for the front clips and the philips head screwdriver for the remaining screws. | |
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| 8) | Shield clip removal |
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| The front 3 clips are a little odd. You need to first pull out the tin middle part all the way out, then you can pull the rest of the clip out. | |
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| 9) | Splash sheild clip |
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| This is a photo of the middle thin part of the clip pulled out. | |
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| 10) | Sheild clip removed |
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| This is the actual clip, removed. | |
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| 11) | Remove Radiator cap |
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| To begin the process or draining the radiator, first open the Radiator cap. | |
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| 12) | Remove big blue drain plug |
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| Next get underneath the engine / car where the splash shield was removed and locate the big blue draing plug. | |
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| 13) | How to remove blue drain plug |
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Open and remove this drain plug with a similar tool or flat head screw driver and watch for the water that starts pouring out immediately. Also make sure the draing plug does not get lost. |
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| 14) | Loosening the smaller blue drain plug |
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Only loosen this second smaller blue drain plug (turn it a couple of times round with a flat head screw driver) and let the remaining water drip out. |
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| 15) | Radiator draining |
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Demonstrating how the water & coolant mix pours out. NOTE: Coolant is poisonous, if any leaks on to the ground, wash it away with water. As it is sweet, animals tend to drink / lick it. |
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| 16) | Bleeding the Radiator |
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| Now to bleed the radiator to enable all the water to come out, turn the black bleed / vent screw a few times to loosen it, with a flat head screw driver. | |
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| 17) | Flushing the Radiator |
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Next fit the big blue drain plug back and also the smaller blue drain plug (but not too tight, as you may damage them) and fill the radiator with water. Next close the radiator cap and tighten the black bleed / vent screw and either take the car for a short drive or start the engine and rev it a for a few minutes. This will enable the water to mix with / dilute any remaining old coolant. NOTE: Do not over tighten the bleed / vent screw, it will / can break in half...as happened to me! |
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| 18) | Filling Ionised water |
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Make sure the radiator isn't too hot, then slowly open the Radiator cap again (with your face pointing in the other direction), open and remove the big bottom blue drain plug again, loosen the smaller blue drain plug and then loosen the top bleed / vent screw again. Then wait for all the water to drain out, it may take about 10 minutes. Next close and tighten the bottom blue drain plugs (not too tight). |
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19) Filling Coolant Next pour about 2.5 litres of Coolant into the Radiator.
| 20) | Radiator full |
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| Pour until the orange stick sticks out as below, indicating it is full. | |
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| 21) | Heating on full |
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| Close the Radiator cap and tighten the black bleed / vent screw next to it. Now turn on the engine and rev it for about 5 minutes, also turn on the car heating to full. All these will bring out any air trapped in the pipes. |
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| 22) | Bleeding the Radiator |
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One you have done that, leave the engine running and open the Radiator cap and loosen the black bleed / vent screw until water starts coming out of the hole. This process gets rid of the trapped air. Now you may need to pour a little more water / coolant in the Radiator again, to fill it up. Once satisfied, fix the splash shield back to the bottom of the car, tighten the Radiator cap and tighten the bleed / vent screw (again not too tight). One method to tell if all the trapped air has been released, is to ensure you are getting constant hot air from your air vents inside the car. If it fluctuates, it means there is more to bleed. |
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| 23) | Final topup Water & Coolant |
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Once the car has completely cooled down, open the radiator cap once again and top up the radiator with water & coolant (till the yellow stick sticks out again), as it will usually be required. |
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| DIY Radiator Flush / Coolant Drain by - imran hamid www.impee.co.uk Any questions - imran@impee.co.uk |
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