I need to do a coolant change soon so I was gonna have my buddy whose done it before give me a hand since it seemed straight foward enough but then I get this in my e-mail today from my local mazda dealer so can anyone enlighten me if this "system flush with specialized equipment" is just a gimic the dealer uses to get people to pay to do it there or is it worth the extra cash. thanks for your input

heres the link since I don't want to copy the whole article even though its short.
http://www.imakenews.com/conmazda/e_...yqCbv,blPQC2ky

 

Hey fellow Chicago guy. To be honest with you. Do it youself! I have been in the Dealership world for 5 years now and a tech for 2 years. Basicailly all we do in a coolant flush is drain the system, then fill up with water and run it for a couple of mins and then drain the system again and fill it back up with the perfect 50/50 mixture of water/coolant

 

Do it yourself and it would be a learning experience.

 

If the car is in good shape and you do it regularly (every few years) drain and refill is fine.

If you have an older car and it's been a long time (if ever) since replacing the coolant, it's worth getting a power flush.

Ken

 

uhhh The question was is going to the dealer worth the extra $$$ for what said in the mazda article (who want you to go to the dealer obviously): "Dealership technicians don’t just remove old coolant and fill your car up with a new mixture; instead, they employ a machine designed to run a unique mixture of antifreeze and distilled water through your engine’s entire cooling system and then vacuum it all out, creating enough pressure during the process to also remove any debris that might be lurking inside your radiator or its associated plumbing"

thanks for some real input.

 

that's one of the funnier things i've read in awhile.
reminds me of scenes in a movie when someone opens a plane's door at altitude and we're treated to 5 mins of air getting sucked out the cabin. I'm very skeptical of any statement saying negative pressure is going to aid in the cleaning of a cooling system. Unless they meant they're shooting high pressure water into the system.. in which case you'll have a really clean fill bottle.


anywho... I would strongly suggest a DIY for most people. It's very easy to do, requires minimal tools, and gets you comfortable doing more then oil changes. At the very worst you run into an issue and take it to the dealer anyway.

 

I like the "unique mixture of antifreeze and distilled water"

 

i'm sure their "unique mixture" is 49/51 or 51/49.. it's that 1 percent that makes it liquid awesomeness.

 

absolutely.

 

Do it yourself. I just did mine Tuesday in my RX8 and for the first time ever for any car in general. In my opinion, it was surprisingly even easier then an oil change. I just used a little DYI on here, and used the drain from the housing. Just be very careful about making a mess, it came out super fast, and got my little helper in the face (no pun intended...). Why I was under there, I went ahead and changed the plugs and oil. Only problem I came across was my ratio. I did this is a shop and one of the mechanics thought it would hold 2 1/2 gallons of coolant (I know better then to not look this up ahead of time now). So I added 1 gallon of full strength antifreeze, a bottle of wetter water, and, well, only about half a gallon of water. Guess its ok here in KY where I see the teens every now and then.

Anyways, what Im trying to get to is, This is a very simple job, and a great way to do other little maintenance for your car. Plugs/oil/transmission fluid, or whatever else. Your already down there anyways.

If you know how to change your oil, this is just as easy, if not easier

 

OMG I wanna freaking cry. I laughed so freaking hard not even funny.

I'm willing to bet 90% of the Mazda dealer these days don't even know how to Completely drain the cooling system of RX-8.

do it yourself and save the extra $ for beer.

 

as far as I remember, if u drain from the engine, u will need more than 2 gallons of coolant.

if its' just radiator drain, probably gallon something. and your mix ratio is way too much for Anti-Freeze, and water wetter doesn't do **** if u have too much EG in the mix. It works best with more water (or 100% water)

u should've just got 50/50

 

Well we assumed it was going to be more then 2 gallons, witch is why I started with that much Anti-Freeze. I let the car idle till fully warmed, and even revved the motor to 4k for about 10 secs.

I do remember about half way home, the coolant light came on, so I pulled over right away. It was just a little below the low level and definitely didnt take a whole half gallon. I know for a fact a drained it from the engine.

The price for 100% coolant rather then 50/50 is about the same. Why would I pay the same price for extra water? I was trying to do the ratio myself rather then buy two bottles of 50/50.

Did you read where I said this was my first time I've ever done this? Did you read the part about it getting in the teens here? I cant ant use 100% water.

Im no professional, and Im just trying to help people out. Learn from my mistake like I did.

 

I know how much coolant cost, don't even try to school me on that + I did at least 10 or 15 coolant change on different cars (my 8 alone took probably 7-8 times, the 9th time coming soon), so I'm fairly sure I know way more than you do about coolant change on this car.

The fact is, 50/50 is the easiest thing for beginners. look at your case, you thought you saved some money, it's not bad idea. but in the end you end up with more EG than water in your mix. you know this is your "first" time, that means you have no idea what is going to happen, you don't even know how much coolant the radiator holds. worst thing is, you have no idea how Water wetter works and you add it ... again it doesn't do crap to EG. even with 50/50, it's not very effective. it works best with 100% water. and Yes I KNOW you can't run 100% distilled water for a street car. even if you change it every 100 miles. Cuz it will kill the water pump seal. So you need a bit of EG to keep it running, to use WW for a street car, the best would be at least 20/80. at least you won't rape your water pump seal that fast.

This is the problem with a lot of newbies (I was one of those noob), they thought they "got this/saved money/oh yeah", but in the end ... we all know how it end.

Hate to say I told you so, don't like it? too bad. you can choose to ignore it. That's your problem, just don't cry when things not "running right"

 

Just how hard is it to mix coolant? You start by pouring half of your first gallon of glycol in, followed by half of your first gallon of distilled water. From then on you use that first glycol jug to mix your own 50/50.

If you wonder what mix you really have in the car, just get a coolant hydrometer.

Ken

 

...or you could just get the 50/50 coolant mixture already in one bottle.