Coolant Drain/Fill Without KDS

[me73]

I drained and refilled my coolant. I have a vacuum (Airlift clone) filler, which generally does a good job of getting all the air bubbles, but not on the Stinger. After the fill I squeezed the upper and lower radiator hoses and let it idle for about 10 minutes with the heat on and I couldn't get any warm air through the vents. I opened up the "coolant vent hose", lifted the front of the car and continued squeezing the upper and lower hoses until nothing but coolant came out of the hose and let it idle again. This time I got warm air from the vents but it didn't get hot until I started moving the car. During a 10 minute drive, the coolant needle stayed planted just below half way mark but at the end I came to a stop and the air from the vents was cold again. The coolant wasn't under pressure when I checked the fill cap. Added more coolant, squeezed the hoses again, and drove the car again and now I'm getting hot air from the vents at the end of the 15 minute drive. I think I've got it now, but what a pain. Usually the vacuum system works great so it' disappointing to have this going on with the car.

It's 20F outside so if I'm going to have overheating issues, I won't see it today.

Has anyone done this with better success without a KDS?

 

[bfglitch]

Search is your friend. Wouldn't be surprised if there are more but I knew this one existed.

Bleeding 3.3L engine coolant the hard/easy way.

Hey guys I thought I’d share my experience bleeding the coolant on my 18 Kia stinger gt2. First a little backstory I picked this car up salvage to fix and had some front end damage. Radiator was busted and had to be replaced which leads me to why I’m bleeding the coolant. At first I did my...

stingerforum.org

 

[me73]

Search is your friend. Wouldn't be surprised if there are more but I knew this one existed.

Bleeding 3.3L engine coolant the hard/easy way.

Hey guys I thought I’d share my experience bleeding the coolant on my 18 Kia stinger gt2. First a little backstory I picked this car up salvage to fix and had some front end damage. Radiator was busted and had to be replaced which leads me to why I’m bleeding the coolant. At first I did my...

stingerforum.org

Thanks yup, I've read that one.

 

[bfglitch]

Yeah I think that's the most extensive thread on changing the coolant, at least recently.

 

[JSolo]

I drained and refilled my coolant. I have a vacuum (Airlift clone) filler, which generally does a good

I have the actual uview airlift device here. Usually drain/fill coolant at 5 years (another 3 to go). Were you getting a good vacuum on the hoses before you started refilling?

I suppose as an alternative there's the lisle burp funnel which usually does the job as well but takes long as it requires the tstat to open and what not.

 

[me73]

I have the actual uview airlift device here. Usually drain/fill coolant at 5 years (another 3 to go). Were you getting a good vacuum on the hoses before you started refilling?

I suppose as an alternative there's the lisle burp funnel which usually does the job as well but takes long as it requires the tstat to open and what not.

It held -0.7 bar for about 5 minutes. Seemed pretty good. I actually pulled vacuum to -0.1 a couple more times after the fill just to see if there was anything else to pull. Annoying.

I'll probably try the burp funnel next time. There's plenty of time for that now.

 

[JSolo]

The uview gauge indicates -24 to - 26 as the recommended vacuum. What they don't specify is the units. I'm assuming inches of mercury. 25 in of mercury vacuum is ~-.85 bar, so I suppose your value of -7 is a bit on the low side but close.

 

[me73]

The uview gauge indicates -24 to - 26 as the recommended vacuum. What they don't specify is the units. I'm assuming inches of mercury. 25 in of mercury vacuum is ~-.85 bar, so I suppose your value of -7 is a bit on the low side but close.

It's a really nice unit for the price. All metal body and fittings.

 

[JSolo]

On the last 2 cars i've used this, I'd pull vacuum to 25 before refilling. Do the conversion, what does it come out to? It's possible inadequate vacuum was not allowing it to pull coolant to the necessary places.

Need someone who's actually used this tool on this car to report back.