renault clio coolant changing

ants83

ants83

ants83

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29 Jun 2004
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can anyone help. i could take it to a garage but i just wanted to get my coolant changed and oil i no its not rocket science. its a 1.2 99 clio if anyone has any tips
 
Remove bottom pipe from rad. insert hose into expansion bottle at low speed. wait untill water come out clear. refit pipe fill with coolant. you also need to open bleed screw/s when filling. all done with engine cold.
 
it's done with the bottom hose off. to flush the system. you don't need to bleed valve open when flushing with water, but it won't hurt if it is open. open the bleed valve when the pipe as been re-fitted, to allow air out of the system.. close valve when the coolant start flowing out. fill to correct level.then run engine up to temp. i.e fan kicking in it a easy job. harder to put it into word's without pics. pics with word, make it easy
 
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with a lot of ngines you wont get all the water out unless you get the stat out

id just put a brand new stat in and make sure you do the antifreeze right
 
Right, I need to do this but I'm as total car noob (it's my wife's car).

I noticed the coolant was low/empty when i was filling the screen wash yesterday.

Can I just add more or do I need to flush the system first?
 
Coolant:
I did it on my Micra a year ago. I just took the bottom hose of the rad and let it drain.
I then turned the engine on for a second to push the rest of the fluid out.
Refit hose and fill with water - I had a cap on the top of the rad that I took off to let air out as I filled up from the reservoir.
Squeeze any rubber hoses on the coolant system after refill to get rid of any big air bubbles.
*********MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT JUST FILL WITH WATER YOU MUST USE SOME COOLANT SYSTEM ANTIFREEZE TOO OR COME THE WINTER YOU ARE IN A MESS!*********

Oil:
Stick car up on ramps (basically 2 wedges to give better access to the sump, but this is not essential on most cars. The oil filter is a **** to get to on the Micra and must be accessed from underneath.
Engine should be a bit warm as oil flows better this way. Not full engine temp though as don't want to scold yourself.
Undo the sump plug and drain out.
Bash a screwdriver through the old oil filter and use as a handle to undo it.
Wipe a finger of oil around the new oil filter seal and fit. About 3/4 of a turn iirc, not as tight as you can!
Refit sump plug, with a new copper washer on it - This needs to be done to a certain torque.
Fill with oil (oil grade and quantity I am unsure on your car).
When filling with oil, only fill it to the minimum line as it takes a while to run down the sides into the sump (a year or two ago I filled the Micra to 'max' and the next day when I checked the oil level again it was over max. Not a big issue though as the crank is there so even a small amount of oil raises the level a lot so it was not as bad as it appeared at all).
*********MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT START THE ENGINE WHEN THERE IS NO OIL IN THERE OR THE ENGINE IS RUINED*********

The jobs are quite simple to do and you will feel like you have achieved something when you do it :). For a 1999 Clio don't worry about garage service history but always keep receipts of stuff you have bought to prove to the next buyer that you did care for the car and did service it.
 
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duvet77 said:
Cheers, any idea what proportions of water/antifreeze. Will it tell me in the handbook?
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Not sure on the handbook but the Haynes certainly will.
For the Micra it was something like 50/50 would protect down to like minus 25 or 70/30 water antifreeze would do down to like minus 15. These are guessed figures though!
I apologise for writing in caps like you are an idiot (I know you aren't!), it is because I need step by step instructions to do car stuff and lack confidence in stuff I haven't done before - Just trying to help :).
 
mglover070588 said:
I apologise for writing in caps like you are an idiot (I know you aren't!), it is because I need step by step instructions to do car stuff and lack confidence in stuff I haven't done before - Just trying to help :).
Click to expand...

It's cool, i didn't take it the wrong way. It's a fair thing to point out since I know nothing about cars!

I am a fairly competent DIYer though so I'm confident I won't screw anything up.
 
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