jakemuk

Ok so the following works need doing, and i am pretty confident in doing minor repairs alternator belts oil etc, But like to the have information to hand,

What i need to do to the escort van is:

Replace the thermostat, As it takes ages to get upto temperature and for heat to come out the heaters, So from what ive been told is the thermostat ?

And also,

Flush and refill the system with antifreeze / water mix, For some reason i have a big fear about doing this, As my mate did this and 2 days later he blew his head gasket, Maybe he did something wrong or didnt tighten things back up ? am i just being paranoid.

I have heard the thermostat is an easy fix to ?, i.e remove the coolant pipe clamp, Undo the 3 bolts remove housing, Take old one out, Fit new gasket to the new one, Clean up both services, Bolt back finger tight then tighten up but dont go to mad as the housing can break ?, Put pipe back on, Then top up with coolant lost, But i've heard if you do it on ramps with the car up, Then its unlikely you will loose much ?

So should i bite the bullet do it myself for the cost of the thermostat n gasket, Plus a bottle wynss n some antifreeze ???

Or if i pay the garage, What do you reckon is a fair price

fuzzy

that should be easily done by a semi decent diy mechanic rather than paying someone else.

jakemuk

I am willing to do it myself, But i would need to know how much antifreeze/water the van needs, As i don't have the manual, Is there anyway to find out ?

And does it cause a head gasket to go ?, I.E is that common or had my mate done something wrong ? or just bad luck

rstdave

iTrader: (3)

As said a diy'er should easily be able to do that mate. As you've described is pretty much exactly what you need to do, just buy a big bottle of anti freeze so you've got plenty to top it up with. After you've replaced the thermostat/refilled the system run the car up and let it get to temperature with the header tank cap off to bleed the system. If you're not capable of doing it wouldn't have thought a garage could charge you any more than 2 hours labour at the most + bits. Only reason headgasket could fail afterwards is if you managed to get an airlock in the system through not bleeding it properly.

clarke5700

i do ALOT of privat work in my own time as i have access to a full garage ramps ect ect i would normaly charge about Ł20 for a job like that just because i hate sitting around doing nothink with my time..

but its prity easy to do realy just make sure you have no air locks ect ect as that can lead to h/gasket problems

tabetha

Easy DIY, the wynns cooling system flush is ace stuff and will get all the shit out, it will form in a congealed jelly like mess in the expansion tank, so will need cleaning out, I run the engine around fior a few hundred miles with the flush in.
Be aware though, it has been known to have leaks afterwards, in the event that scale crap etc was stopping a tiny leak from say the heater matrix/rad it will now not fix the leak, but K seal will seal it(Ł12).
Otherwise pretty much as you said, you will never get all the water out the engine, so don't worry just disconnect the pipes and drain, replace pipes and new stat, top up with 2.5 litres of antifreeze BEFORE any water is added, that way you know there is enough anti freeze in there, should you only bhe able to squeeze a little water in there.
Leave the cap ON when running the engine up, top ex tank up to max before starting, the cap needs to be on in order for the pressure to form in the x tank and do it's job of de-gassing, ie taking all the air out the system, once run up to temp just leave to cool down, watch the extank and you will actually see and hear the coolant being drawn in as the air is forced to the surface.
Once left overnight etc, don't worry if the level has dropped, even out of sight, just top up to minimum.
Try to use a wahle thermostat as they are vastly better, 2 times the price but two times the quality!!
tabetha

jakemuk

Cheers Guys,

I am kinda in 2 minds wether to actualy do it or not, As well i have heard horror storries about it, And with what happened to my mates with the head fucking, I just dont wana risk it, Could by doing the flush etc, cause a major leak if its not been changed for ages ?, As i wudnt have a clue what to do if it started leaking, So do you think its maybe best to just get a garage to do it, To take the risk away ?

Also tabetha, Is the expansion tank easy to remove like ? just a few pipes and bolts ? And how would i clean in the dishwasher i have heard is gud ? Or just gud blast with the pressure washer as mine is proper dirty like, Very hard to check levels

And if i leave this flush thing is for say 2 days and do like hundred miles then drain it out, how do i make sure i have totaly flushed it out ?

Or is it bad if i just leave it ?,

Where abouts are you based tabetha ?