AA2 Coolant filling after drain

[Lew]

Hello gents,

my cooling system is now empty as I had to remove the rad.

How can I fill it up again quickly ? Using the tank only will take ages...

I tried to undo the big hose at the exit of the engine, going to the metal hose & rad, just to put coolant in the hoses but this big hose is quite rigid and I cannot manage to remove it.
The bleeding hole of the AA2 rad is really tiny it cannot be used.

Is there a magic trick ?

TA

[Lew]

I've begun with filling through the tank and nose as high as possible and it's faster than I thought

[mapes]

How did you get on? I've not tried to do it myself yet, but the following has been taken from this forum, if it's any help...

The Atom is kinda unique because the radiator is up front and a relatively long way away from the engine and reservoir tank. The radiator being separated by the coolant tubes under the tub, which are very low and as mentioned, quite a distance. This effectively creates two separate areas in the coolant system that you need to get rid of any air pockets.

Make sure the reservoir tank, is at least half full with coolant.
Remove the radiator vent plug on top of the radiator and see if you can see coolant. (It might be full and start to pour out, if so replace the plug but leave it just very lightly tightened) If you cannot see the coolant level or if it is lower than full and not flowing out, leave the plug off.

Jack the front of the car up as high as possible. I use a motorcycle jack that gets the radiator top higher than the reservoir tank at the rear. Use whatever you can to get the front as high up as possible.

Start the engine and let it idle.

Keep a close eye on the coolant level in the reservoir and through the radiator top plug hole and keep the reservoir topped up to at least half full at all times should it start to get lower.

The engine coolant thermostat will stay closed until the water temps get up to about 50-60 *c or so. Once it opens up you should start to see and hear the coolant moving through the radiator. It should rise up and eventually start flowing out the cap hole. Reinstall the cap and secure it with just sufficient force to stop the coolant leaking out. All the while, make sure the reservoir tank does not run out.

If your radiator is full and coolant coming out, let the engine idle a few minutes with the car at operating temps and occasionally "crack" open the plug, using a rag to stop coolant running everywhere and allow any bubbles to escape.

Once you are sure there are no bubbles coming out of the radiator cap, the reservoir has remained at a stable level and there's no bubbles or gurgling at the radiator cap when cracked open, close the cap tight. (not too tight to strip the threads)

Assuming your just checking for airlocks, this should probably be sufficient. However, if you've just replaced the entire coolant and this is it's first run after refilling it, I typically run the car for quite a while with the front up as high as I can get it after following the above steps. I then drop it back down on the front and repeat the steps. Then jack it back up again and repeat. I then go for a short and easy 1 mile drive and come back and repeat one more time. I then keep an eye looking for stable coolant temps the first run or two and keep close inspection on coolant levels.

[Lew]

Thanks mate !

Pretty much what i've followed (except for lowering then rising again and then heating cycle again), but I first rinsed it with distilled water, now I'm filling it for good. So i'll follow this closely !

Good thing because I've discovered that my temperature switch for my Spal was not doing its job, the spal wasn't kicking in.

Do you know the model of the switch ? Spal switch are M14x150 but mine is indeed M14 but 110mm long... should be 90 or 95°c for the temp.
There are some writing on it but cannot read them.

[Lew]

managed to clean and read the writings,
BMW 1 364 272
haha

any M14x1,5 90-95°c should do the job I guess

[Lew]

Thanks for your advices [mention]mapes[/mention] now I think it's spot on, ecu and dash temp are quite the same, fan is kicking when it should, cool the car, then stops.

cheers!