Flush and clean draining system on 1985 2.5 diesel fiat ducatto, any advice gratefully accepted

[MollyMooMoo]

We recently bought 2.5 non turbo diesel fist ducatto autotrail, cooling system water is very brown and cant see the level through the top tank, any basic info on flushing/draining/cleaning/refilling the system please, starting with where the drain plug is, any help would be great.

 

[tonyidle]

There is no drain plug - you need to remove the bottom hose. Refilling isn't difficult - simply refill via the header tank - there's a small bleed device attached to one side of the heater intake to remove whilst refilling. Final top up with the engine running until coolant flows freely from the aforementioned bleed - replace the bleed screw with the engine running & whilst coolant is coming out of the bleed. You may need to repeat the last bit once the engine has run & warmed up. Flush first with a refill of plain water then repeat using a proprietary flushing additive. Leave it in until the engine has come up to temperature (or van has been in use for a couple of days). Drain again & refill with 50% antifreeze mix. You may never get the header tank completely clean unless you remove it for a good scrub out.

 

[gus-lopez]

I've always removed header tank.fill with soap powder and a good shake.

 

[MollyMooMoo]

Thanks so much, will give it a go

 

[68c]

Be prepared for a leak after flushing the system. The brown stain of course is rust from the engine block, a system filled with the correct water and antifreeze mixture will not corrode. The problem usually starts with a minor leak, most likely from the radiator, which promotes the previous owner to keep topping up the tank. The antifreeze mixture gets weaker and weaker resulting in no rust prevention. All that freshly added water contains oxygen which helps accelerate any corrosion. By now the previous owner will have tried a radiator leak product, hopefully this worked, but will be unwilling to spend money on antifreeze so the corrosion continues. I suspect you will soon be buying a new radiator, luckily they are readily available not that dear and easy to fit. The best antifreeze mix is to use distilled or deionised water with the antifreeze mix as this further reduces corrosion.

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[MollyMooMoo]

Thank you for all the info, really useful for me, probably next going to need a decent parts supplier!

 

[MollyMooMoo]

Hi all, further to this we have taken Molly on our first run out to see how she goes, travelled about an hour, heavy traffic on m56, temp shot up past 90 mark, pulled over and we had some steam coming from the orange pipe at the top of expansion tank with what looks like a plastic bleed screw set up.
That had perished off and leaking water!!.
Anyway found a self tapping screw as best repair, let her cool down, added water and got to our site all ok.
My question for anyone that may help is where the hell can i find the new part(bleed screw).
Iv looked all over the internet with no joy, any suggestions please.