Coolant flush with vacuum fill tool

[70Sixter]

Glad this thread got bumped, I was just about to look for it after checking the manual for replacing the thernostat and flushing the cooling system.

I was planning to install the LN Engineering 160 degree thermostat and got stuck by the special tool required to remove thermostat from housing. Charles Navarro confirmed that he supplies the thermostat in a new housing so the tool is not needed.

Next obstacle was the expensive flushing system from Porsche, but I knew someone had already answered.

So thanks for saving me a search! :thankyou: :renntech:

[tac27]

I've just purchased one of the Uview coolant tool from Amazon. I've got a coolant leak, driver's side, somewhere forward of the engine but certainly behind the jack point.... Can this tool help find the leak by pressurizing the cooling system so I can see where the leak is?

Thanks,

Tim

Las Vegas

[tac27]

Found the leak: It was in one of the right angle line 'nipples' that exits the AOS body. It was a real gusher.

I used the Uview to refill the system. The pressure gauge never rose above '20.' After I stopped it stayed pegged right at that number, so I'm assuming everthing is 'air tight.' The tool worked really well, only advice is watch the tank from which you are drawing new coolant; close the valve or you loose your vacuum.

Tim.

[ca996]

Loren (or anyone),

I have a 2000 996. Just replaced water pump/thermostat. Potential coolant mixing issue. Regarding draining, I've seen the various posts here relating to this but none with complete drain instructions. Would you mind posting specific instructions on the drain/flush procedure to remove ALL of the coolant? Also, does the system need to be completely drained for the vaccuum method to work to put in the new coolant or is it ok to apply vaccuum and fill with a half full system? (I have the UView tool.)

Thank you,

Bill

[1schoir]

Loren (or anyone),

I have a 2000 996. Just replaced water pump/thermostat. Potential coolant mixing issue. Regarding draining, I've seen the various posts here relating to this but none with complete drain instructions. Would you mind posting specific instructions on the drain/flush procedure to remove ALL of the coolant? Also, does the system need to be completely drained for the vaccuum method to work to put in the new coolant or is it ok to apply vaccuum and fill with a half full system? (I have the UView tool.)

Thank you,

Bill

I wrote up the instructions for a complete draining (but for a Boxster), but I can't find it in the posts. I will search some more and let you know if I find it.

For the UView, you don't have to completely drain all the coolant out for the vacuum method to work but it works really, really well if it is all drained out. If it's not, it will still work very well but you may have to crank up the vacuum twice.

I've done it both ways (not by choice the second time with a partial drain) and it's a pleasure using that tool.

Regards, Maurice.

[ca996]

Loren (or anyone),

I have a 2000 996. Just replaced water pump/thermostat. Potential coolant mixing issue. Regarding draining, I've seen the various posts here relating to this but none with complete drain instructions. Would you mind posting specific instructions on the drain/flush procedure to remove ALL of the coolant? Also, does the system need to be completely drained for the vaccuum method to work to put in the new coolant or is it ok to apply vaccuum and fill with a half full system? (I have the UView tool.)

Thank you,

Bill

I wrote up the instructions for a complete draining (but for a Boxster), but I can't find it in the posts. I will search some more and let you know if I find it.

For the UView, you don't have to completely drain all the coolant out for the vacuum method to work but it works really, really well if it is all drained out. If it's not, it will still work very well but you may have to crank up the vacuum twice.

I've done it both ways (not by choice the second time with a partial drain) and it's a pleasure using that tool.

Regards, Maurice.

Thanks Maurice, let me know what you find. I tried filling with the UView with a half full system, the reserviour filled to max (it sucked in about 2 gallons) but the hoses are still collapsed and the pressure on the UView guage is at 15. I'm stuck.

[1schoir]

Thanks Maurice, let me know what you find. I tried filling with the UView with a half full system, the reserviour filled to max (it sucked in about 2 gallons) but the hoses are still collapsed and the pressure on the UView guage is at 15. I'm stuck.

Bill:

I haven't found the actual post, but this a draft of what I found saved on my computer.

Note that the Boxster engine is turned around 180 degrees from the that of the 996 so the location of the fat hoses, etc. maybe different as well.

"...Disconnect the two fat hoses under the center of the car, just forward of the rear wheels, as well as the "Y" hose, and at the thermostat housing. Do the same at each of the radiators under the front bumper.

Unscrew the small plug under the engine.

Disconnect the two heater core hoses just behind the battery.

Now that you have all of this disconnected, stick a hose nozzle into all of the hoses you have disconnected and watch where the water comes out of another hose until you get clear water.

At the heater core hose, stick the nozzle into the hose that has the arrow that corresponds to the water flow you are introducing with the hose (one hose has an arrow going up, the other has an arrow going down indicating the direction of flow into and out of the heater core).

Make sure you get clear water to flow out of each radiator before removing the nozzle that you have to stick into each radiator's hose.

If you want to be thorough, buy a few gallons of distilled water and pour into the coolant tank and into the heater core hoses to let it run out of the disconnected hoses. That will help to replace any trapped clear water with distilled water.

When you are ready to have the new coolant sucked in, set up a gallon jug of the coolant near the level of the coolant tank and, when you get to that jug being 1/4 full, shut off the vacuum temporarily with the valve, then pour in more coolant into that first jug without disturbing the hose in the original jug until the original jug is nearly full, then open the valve again to draw in more coolant. Continue in that fashion until the system is filled.

Once you know how much the total capacity of your system is, fill it with 1/2 that capacity of pure coolant. Once you have drawn in that amount, continue by filling with a mixture of 50% coolant and 50% distilled water until full. This will give you the best shot at getting a 50/50 mixture overall because you don't know how much water, if any, has remained in the system after flushing...."

Here's hoping this gets you "unstuck". :cheers:

Regards, Maurice.

[wrljet]

I bought my unit from Amazon.com and it was an excellent price (around $100).

It's the exact same kit sold by Porsche, but if you buy it from Porsche you have the privilege of paying an additional $400. If you buy it from Porsche, you get the nice Porsche sticker on it. :P

My car is a '97 Boxster and I refilled it with 6 gallons of 50/50 mix- coolant to distilled water.

Not sure if the capacity is the same for your 996. If you don't have a manual for your car, take a look at the top of the page here for PDF's of Porsche Owners Manuals, under the "Documents" tab.

Regards, Maurice.

Is it exactly the same as the tools listed in the shop manual, as in it includes a threaded adapter to go on the coolant tank?

Bill

[cakasa]

Excellent Thread .......... :thankyou: for sharing fellows

[1schoir]

Is it exactly the same as the tools listed in the shop manual, as in it includes a threaded adapter to go on the coolant tank?

Bill

Bill:

The UView tool includes a set of adapters to fit into the neck of most vehicles' coolant tanks. For the Porsche's coolant tank, two of the many adapters will fit perfectly.

The one that is in the shape of a cone will fit in the coolant reservoir's opening, and, once it's in place you turn a knurled knob which then expands the cone to make a pressure-tight seal which allows a great vacuum to build up when you connect the compressor to the fitting that is provided for that purpose.

Regards, Maurice.

[wrljet]

Bill:

The UView tool includes a set of adapters to fit into the neck of most vehicles' coolant tanks. For the Porsche's coolant tank, two of the many adapters will fit perfectly.

The one that is in the shape of a cone will fit in the coolant reservoir's opening, and, once it's in place you turn a knurled knob which then expands the cone to make a pressure-tight seal which allows a great vacuum to build up when you connect the compressor to the fitting that is provided for that purpose.

Regards, Maurice.

Ahh, that sounds good enough.

I just replaced that verdammten coolant tank on my 2002 and now need to think about

getting one of these vacuum filler-uppers.

Bill

[1schoir]

Bill:

The UView tool includes a set of adapters to fit into the neck of most vehicles' coolant tanks. For the Porsche's coolant tank, two of the many adapters will fit perfectly.

The one that is in the shape of a cone will fit in the coolant reservoir's opening, and, once it's in place you turn a knurled knob which then expands the cone to make a pressure-tight seal which allows a great vacuum to build up when you connect the compressor to the fitting that is provided for that purpose.

Regards, Maurice.

Ahh, that sounds good enough.

I just replaced that verdammten coolant tank on my 2002 and now need to think about

getting one of these vacuum filler-uppers.

Bill

Bill:

This tool will be one of the very best presents you could ever buy yourself. It's that good. Don't hesitate to buy it.

The fact that it costs one fifth of what Porsche wants for it and that it is the SAME exact tool (without the Porsche sticker) makes it that much sweeter!

Regards, Maurice.

Edited December 15, 2009 by 1schoir

[mtimmy]

I have it and worked great.! ..

Bill:

The UView tool includes a set of adapters to fit into the neck of most vehicles' coolant tanks. For the Porsche's coolant tank, two of the many adapters will fit perfectly.

The one that is in the shape of a cone will fit in the coolant reservoir's opening, and, once it's in place you turn a knurled knob which then expands the cone to make a pressure-tight seal which allows a great vacuum to build up when you connect the compressor to the fitting that is provided for that purpose.

Regards, Maurice.

Ahh, that sounds good enough.

I just replaced that verdammten coolant tank on my 2002 and now need to think about

getting one of these vacuum filler-uppers.

Bill

Bill:

This tool will be one of the very best presents you could ever buy yourself. It's that good. Don't hesitate to buy it.

The fact that it costs one fifth of what Porsche wants for it and that it is the SAME exact tool (without the Porsche sticker) makes it that much sweeter!

Regards, Maurice.

[wrljet]

I got mine for Christmas, from an Amazon.com seller.

Worked very well.

Bill

[1schoir]

I got mine for Christmas, from an Amazon.com seller.

Worked very well.

Bill

Bill:

Merry Christmas!

Regards, Maurice.

[logray]

Reviving this old thread.

Purchased the uview 5550000000 to do a coolant drain/replace on my 99' 996 C2.

I only managed to get 5 gallons (almost exactly) out of the system using this procedure.

Turn heater to high, fan on low.

Lift bleeder valve.

Remove reservoir cap.

Remove drain plug on engine, drain.

Remove thermostat & smaller hose next to it, drain.

Remove two lines near transmission going to heater core, drain.

Remove two lower radiator hoses, drain.

To get the last 0.5 gallons (to make 5 gallons even) I used the uview to draw a vaccum to 25psi, then instead of refilling with coolant, I let it draw air in. Then I removed the coolant drain plug on the engine, and magically a few quarts of coolant drained, likely drawn closer to the engine by the vaccum. I repeated the process again and got another few quarts. During each run through with the uview.

Where could that last pesky gallon be (to make 6 which is my understanding what the capacity is) and I suppose I could continue the above process until I capture 6 gallons? Reason I want to drain ALL of the fluid is I'm replacing with Peak global anti freeze and don't want any problems mixing the porsche anti freeze with the peak stuff, even though they should be compatible..

I heard a considerable amount of gurgling when the uview was drawing a vaccum, I'm guessing it's safe to keep drawing a vaccum repeatedly?.

TIA!

Edited May 2, 2011 by logray

[1schoir]

Reviving this old thread.

Purchased the uview 5550000000 to do a coolant drain/replace on my 99' 996 C2.

I only managed to get 5 gallons (almost exactly) out of the system using this procedure.

Turn heater to high, fan on low.

Lift bleeder valve.

Remove reservoir cap.

Remove drain plug on engine, drain.

Remove thermostat & smaller hose next to it, drain.

Remove two lines near transmission going to heater core, drain.

Remove two lower radiator hoses, drain.

To get the last 0.5 gallons (to make 5 gallons even) I used the uview to draw a vaccum to 25psi, then instead of refilling with coolant, I let it draw air in. Then I removed the coolant drain plug on the engine, and magically a few quarts of coolant drained, likely drawn closer to the engine by the vaccum. I repeated the process again and got another few quarts. During each run through with the uview.

Where could that last pesky gallon be (to make 6 which is my understanding what the capacity is) and I suppose I could continue the above process until I capture 6 gallons? Reason I want to drain ALL of the fluid is I'm replacing with Peak global anti freeze and don't want any problems mixing the porsche anti freeze with the peak stuff, even though they should be compatible..

I heard a considerable amount of gurgling when the uview was drawing a vaccum, I'm guessing it's safe to keep drawing a vaccum repeatedly?.

TIA!

Drawing a vacuum a number of times is safe. If you can't get that last gallon out and don't want to mix antifreeze types, you could try to fill the system with plain water and drain it a couple of times, then do the final drain after filling it with distilled water.

If it's been drained and refilled with water a few times, you should have diluted the old coolant enough to have no compatibility issues. If the final fill with distilled water leaves one gallon unaccounted for, you can just count that gallon for the level of dilution that you want to reach.

Regards, Maurice.

[questforbalance]

Hello Everyone, I just replaced the coolant in my 2002 C4S and used the Airlift vacuum tool and what a great tool it is. I changed the coolant on my two other cars without this tool and what a difference this tool made. This tool saved me hours from frustration bleeding and reflilling the coolant. Here is a trick I learned to extract all the coolant in your car.

Remove the coolant plug and the big hoses and using your shopvac suck out the rest of the coolant that does not flow out by gravity. I did this on my other two cars and it worked great. it saved alot of time and makes the pain in the *** process a little less frustrating. You will only have to clean out the shopvac after you are done.

This is how I used the shop vac.

I put the shopvac plastic nozzle inside the large hose and I closed up the hose by squeezing it with my hand to try to restrict the flow of air entering the hose. Oh, by the way, I put the cap back on the reservoir and closed the bleed valve before I did this to ensure that I am sucking coolant and not air. I then listened to the vacuum sound and watched the shopvac hose dance around a little as coolant is sucked into the shopvac. Then I would periodically remove the shopvac and make sure the bucket is under the hose because a guse of coolant will come spraying out. Also, I did this on the coolant plug hole. I put the shopvac tightly against the plug hole and held it there for a couple of minutes and then took it off. Again, make sure you have your bucket under the hole because coolant will guse out.

After you have extracted almost every drop, I mean it will almost be dry when you are done put the plug back in the coolant plug hole and reinstall the hoses and clamps. I then stuck the shopvac into the reservoir and sucked out more coolant from there.

Then I finished up with the Airlift Vacuum Tool. Man, what a great tool. It worked perfectly. I wish I knew about this tool when I did my first car.

Good luck.

[987_RDC]

How long does a vacuumed coolant system hold the vacuum?

I got my system to 25 in/vac but wouldnt hold for long. Thinking it is the crappy "o-ring over hacked off radiator neck" adapter I tried to fab up. Just ordered a universal radiator adapter (1DXN1 or MV4506 instead of Snap on priced:YA4505) for my SVTSRAD262A kit.

[JFP in PA]

How long does a vacuumed coolant system hold the vacuum?

I got my system to 25 in/vac but wouldnt hold for long. Thinking it is the crappy "o-ring over hacked off radiator neck" adapter I tried to fab up. Just ordered a universal radiator adapter (1DXN1 or MV4506 instead of Snap on priced:YA4505) for my SVTSRAD262A kit.

The car should hold 25+ inches of vacuum indefinitely if the system is sealed. We typically let cars sit under vacuum for 15 min. as a final leak test before refilling them.

You should have bought the Uview unit, it is cheaper than the SnapOn and comes with every adaptor you will ever need..................

[btopping]

Question, how large a compressor does this require?

[JFP in PA]

One that can deliver 80-90 PSIG @ 4-5 CFM is recommended, but I have seen it work with smaller units as well.

[btopping]

HMMM. Mine is a pretty small unit I bought a while back mostly for filling tires. It's rated at 0.6 cfm @ 90PSI

[JFP in PA]

I'd say go ahead and try it, I have seen people use the squat "pancake" style portable compressors used to run nailers and it worked, it just took a bit longer to pull full vacuum.

After you use this unit once, you will wonder how you ever did coolant changes without it....

Edited June 20, 2012 by JFP in PA

[btopping]

Thanks. That's good to know. I don't care if it takes longer, just want to make sure I get it done right.