Coolant for 156

[colcol]

Hello all, i have been using Nulon green coolant in my 156 JTS, for about 2 years now, because i have used Nulon green coolant in the 33 for about 20 years, and i reckon Nulon is good stuff, recently, i have noticed rust in the surge tank and upon opening the  blue pressure cap, there was a fair bit of rust in it, so i decided that it may not suit the 156, so i checked the Nulon website and they recommended Nulon 'red', that is mixed to a ratio of 50-50, the Nulon green was ok for motorsport, due to being not too slippery and that it dries quicker on a track, but the Nulon 'red' has no such recomendations, i worked it out that i needed about 4 litres, so i went to Repco and they only had 2.5 litres for $33, so i purchased that, then i went to Bursons up the road and they had 5 litres for $42, mmm, should have gone there first, i will keep a look at how it goes in the next few months and see if the coolant goes rusty, what do the other 147 & 156 drivers use in their cooling system?, Colin.

[wankski]

paraflu UP is the recommended coolant for alfa. it is an OAT type coolant.

nulon red is an OAT coolant and will be suitable.

the coolant capacity is much greater than what you're saying.... i think what happened is you mixed green with what was in there and it reacted and u see that as browish sludge and deposits...

check your manual.

full coolant flush for the v6 is 10l. i suspect the 4 cylinder will be similar... don;t forget to put the heater on to flush that too. run water then replace coolant.

i use nulon flush in the old coolant, empty... filtered water, empty, then nulon red premix (50/50 w/ demineralised water)

[Davidm1600]

Can't say I had even thought about it. I am pretty sure that it looks green but what product I have no idea.  Might have to check my service records to see what the mechanic has put in there. Thanks guys for the heads up on this.

[bix]

Can't say I had even thought about it. I am pretty sure that it looks green but what product I have no idea.  Might have to check my service records to see what the mechanic has put in there. Thanks guys for the heads up on this.

Likewise I haven't thought about it and added the green stuff probably because it was the closest one on the shelf. The TwinSpark requires 6.9 litres (BTW The 2.5 Q-System needs 9.2!) so Colin it doesn't sound like you did a full replacement.
Looking at the Nulon site, it recommends using radiator flush (Nulon brand of course), as mixing OAT with the green stuff will reduce the working life of it.

[colcol]

You are right Mr. Bix, i just checked my manual, and it states 6.9 litres for the 2 litre, not that it matters, i just poured in 3.5 litres of Nulon Red, and topped it up with water, with the Nulon green coolant the mix ratio is 100 mlls to 2 litres of water, where the Nulon Red is 3.5 coolant-3.5 water, and i didn't use demineralised water, just the stuff that comes out the tap, always worked in other cars, and one of the reasons i like Nulon green, is that when new, it is fluoro green, and when its worn out, it is a dull green, then i know its time to change it, Colin.

[colcol]

When i flushed the old coolant out, i removed the air pipe between the air cleaner and Air flow meter, that is a five minute job, and it gives you access to the water hoses, do it with the engine cold, so you don't burn yourself, or crack the block, by introducing cold water into a hot block, remove the bottom radiator hose from the radiator and just let it drain, then loosen the heater hose, i think its on the thermostat housing, and let it drain, then remove the hose from the front of the cylinder head, and let it drain. Then get a low pressure garden hose and flush water through the hoses until it comes out clean, then flush the water the opposite way, [backflush], until the water emerges clean. Now tip some radiator flush into the surge tank, on the right hand side of the car, i use Nulon, but use whatever brand you like, slowly fill the surge tank with water until it starts to run out of the lowest hose, [bottom radiator], then connect the hose back, then keep filling the surge tank until the water runs out of the next highest hose, then connect it back, then do the highest one, and when the water starts to run out of it recconect it, then fill the surge tank to the top, and squeeze all the hoses to get rid of air, to be continued, Colin.

[colcol]

Put the air pipe and air cleaner bits back, and then start the engine and watch the coolant level in the tank, and as it falls, top it up, watch the temperature dial on the dash, and listen for any problems with air locks and the possible boiling of the motor, you will hear the water boiling like a kettle, [not good], when the car heats up and the electric radiator fan is running, check the coolant level in the surge tank, top up if needed and replace blue radiator cap. A few pointers the raditor cleaning instructions say any where between half to two hours to leave the cleaner in your radiator, its up to your convenience, i have left it in for up to a month with no bad results, now make sure during all this you have the heater on, as if its empty, and then fills up, it will take about one litre, but mine didn't, it must have a flap to vary the heat flow through the cabin which means coolant is flowing all the time, some other cars have heater taps that actually vary the water flow through the heater core, Colin.

[colcol]

Almost forgot to say that the radiator and heater and engine coolant hoses on 147's and 156's are held on by single use hose clamps, that is, once they are on, they cannot be taken of or reused, my theory is that when the engine is put in, these clamps are torqued up to a certain pressure, so the cannot be overtightened, and then if they are removed, it voids the warranty, because it means that someone has fiddled with the cooling system and engine, there was an outcry about this with the unfortunate release of the AU Falcan, when the cooling system clamp screw heads would shear off on the production line, when the correct torque was reached, the outcry being if your AU did a radiator hose up the country, it would be very hard to change at the side of the road. Back to 156's, it is possible to cut off the old hose clamps, by using side cutters or small tinsnips CAREFULLY, so you don't crack any plastic piping under the bonnet, replace the clamps with some good stainless steel jubilee clamps, i use Tridon brand, because i can buy them at Repco, much better than struggling at the side of the road trying to remove hose clamps, Colin.

[bix]

It was a good tip on the Burson price Colin. Repco matched the $42 for 5 litres 
Regarding the factory hose clamps, I've found that if you jam an appropriately sized screw driver at the fitting/tightening point, it snaps open pretty easily with no risk of damaging the hose.
Is the Tridon brand you mentioned wider than the standard? I've seen some wide clamps used by some of the boys in the sprints which look very nice.
Lastly, as you mention, the water level does go down presumably after the thermostat opens up. Does anyone know if there is the possibility to bleed the system to avoid such an abrupt level change?

[colcol]

When you add coolant to the system, have all the hoses open, and fill coolant through highest point, that is the surge tank slowly, and listen for coolant dribbling through lowest opening, when it does, put hose back on, this will be the lower radiator hose, then repeat on middle hoses, then top hoses, this will bleed most of the air out, then start the car and let it idle, and keep topping up the coolant level through the surge tank, while watching temperature gauge, and listening for any boiling sounds coming from the block, also keep touching the thermostat housing, and when it starts to get hot, it is starting to open, once it starts to open, the coolant level in the surge tank will drop down, keep topping it up, and when it stops dropping down, most of the air is gone, let it idle until the electric radiator fan cuts in, then it is properly warmed up, check coolant level, put blue pressure cap on surge tank, and go for a drive keeping eye on temperature gauge, let it cool down, take off blue cap and you will hear a few bubbles check coolant level, and it should be ok, Colin.

[colcol]

Be very carefull taking off old one use only factory hose clamps, its not so much damaging the hoses, they are reasonably priced, it is all the plastic pipes on the radiator and cylinder head, the Tridon clamps i use are about the same as the standard ones, the stainless ones i use are easily available at Repco and work good, bleeding cooling systems, [no iam not cursing], i used to have a VL Commodore with a RB30 Nissan engine, they were shocking for air locks, i used to open all the hoses, jack the front up high as it would go, and fill the coolant up to it dribbled out of the hoses, compared to this the 156 is a doddle, Colin.

[colcol]

And as mentioned in another post, when your surge tank is full of rust, no radiator cleaners, truck washes, sugar soap, wine given to by your neighbour or all combinations will clean the rust out, [i seriously soaked the coolant tank for months, with no result], in the meantime, i had purchased a not so rusty, but still quite dirty tank from the wreckers, to tide me over, and what cleaned the tank out was.....filling it with sand from a fish tank, plugging up all the hose outlets on the tank, filling half full of water, and shaking for about an hour, flushing the rusty water out, until it was clean, this means now that when i check the oil level every week in the JTS, i can glance over at the surge tank and see it full of red coolant, as opposed, to looking at the brown murky tank not knowing if i had any coolant in the tank, the fun never stops at my place, P.S. remember to shake out all the sand out of the tank, Colin.