Changing Coolant/antifreeze Zx

[tezzah]

Can anyone tell me where i / how i empty the old coolant/antifreeze from the radiator of a citroen zx pzazz 1.4

[Eirian]

there should be a screw/bolt underneath the radiator. undo the cap off the coolant tank, then undo the screw at the bttom of the radiator.

drain all the coolant out, then put screw back in, fill coolant back up to correct level. then run the engine on idle filling up the coolant tank if needed.

than put the cap on, monitor the engine temp for the next few miles.

job done :(

Eirian

[PZX]

If you are changing the Antifreeze/Coolant then I would recommended that you empty the cylinder block as well.
If you have a diesel then there is a bolt low down on the exhaust/intake side of the cylinder block that, then you would need to open the bleed screws to allow it to drain. You should collect your old antifreeze and dispose of responsibly as it kills pretty much all aquatic life should you pour it down the drain.

You will be able to reach from underneath, although it is a bit of a pain, at leat you wont be mixing old and new antifreeze - which would of course defeat the point of changing it, and you may need a replacement copper washer dfor it, but probably not.

Best of all you should then loosely fit all the caps and flush the the system with fresh water, this gets the remaining mixture out of low points and the internal heater matrix.

When you come to refill with Antifreeze - If you are in a hard water area you may wish to use de-ionised water to mix with the Antifreeze when you refill it, which is reasonably cheap if you buy it from a battery centre - alternative collect rainwater and strain it through a coffee filter if you are expecting a lot of rain.
If you live in a hardwater area the scale could block the thermostat as well as reducing the thermal efficiency of the engine - causing overheating and accelerated wear.

Finally you will need to mix the Antifreeze to your desired protection level and fill the radiator with the bleed valve open. once you have done this you will need to start the engine with the rad cap off, taking car not to scald yourself, and top it up as the air returns to the radiator as required.
Once it has run at operating for about 5 minutes and no more bubbles can be seen, switch the engine of and open the higher bleed screws and squeeze the pipes to get rid of the remaining air.

I know it sounds really long winded but it shoudn't take any more than 30-45 minutes.

Phew I think that covers most of it. If you want any help identifying the block drain bolt I would need to know the engine type first.