coolant change and hydraflush on a 2.1...

deian · Post by **deian** » 26 Apr 2006, 18:01

Hi people

I went to my local Citroen dealer today, and asked about Hydraflush... 5L of it is £47.50, my mouth fell. Then i calmed down, and thought about it and thought, not too bad, then went to GSF site just now £14.50 for Total Hydraflush (5L). So GSF it is. Also I've booked my car in to get the tracking done. £27 isn't bad really is it.

Also while there I saw Gen Citroen Antigel 1L again for £4.50, is this that weird antifreeze thing? Whats it like? And do you guys suggest getting a flush too? GSF sell what seems to be a general 'coolant system flush' for £4.95.

And do you guys have a certain procedure on doing the above two jobs? Any tips? Or advice I should know about before tacking the coolant change and the hydraflush.

Thanks guys

deian · Post by **deian** » 27 Apr 2006, 21:16

anything?

Also yea, this antigel stuff.... is it a flush or proper coolant? is there anything i can use to flush the cooling system before putting antigel in it? thanks

_kid_ · Post by **_kid_** » 27 Apr 2006, 22:59

deian wrote:anything?

Also yea, this antigel stuff.... is it a flush or proper coolant? is there anything i can use to flush the cooling system before putting antigel in it? thanks

Ive just changed my anti freeze, the 'specialist' (irony i think) who did it before must have put about 1 litre in (8 litre capacity) it was so weak. I went to gsf to ask about this genuine cit stuff, at £4.5 per litre that would be nearly £20 for 4 litres all in, needless to say i quickly placed it back on the shelf. What this gel stuff is i don’t know, but all these people who ask a specialist to change the coolant, do you think the garage uses this genuine stuff, no me neither.

I went to unipart, brought 5 litres of ethylene glycol for £11.40 and mixed 4 litres of this and 4 litres of water. Some say use distilled, i used tap!

Me personally i say forget the genuine stuff, use ethylene glycol, and save yourself a tenner for some nice wine or a case of beer! Just bleed the system correctly.

For a flush, fill the system with water and drive a couple of miles, then drain, this should clean the system to a more than acceptable level, repeat if required

the actual process is not that difficult, this was the first time (2nd in total) i have done an antifreeze change since a Mazda 323 five or so years ago, the Haynes manual is well versed on the coolant change

Post by **RichardW** » 28 Apr 2006, 07:46

You can buy the genuine Anti-gel from GSF for less than the dealer - and it's 'just' antifreeze. Valeo recommend it to prevent corrosion of the heater matrix. How much is it worth to avoid taking the dash out? Mind you, I refilled with the gen stuff after a rad change, and the matrix leaked anyway!

To hydraflush, just remove the tank, discard the old LHM and clean the tank and filters, refit tank and fill with hydraflush, repressuer and bleed the brakes the the HF comes out. After 2-3k miles, remove again, clean the filters and refill with LHM, bleed the brakes again till LHM comes out.