Coolant Flush Question
 

I am going to bring my 1993 RX7 to a Meineke for a coolant flush. Is there any special brand/type coolant or special Mazda coolant additive I need to get to give to them before they do it? I know with my WRX subaru sells a powder pack additive that you would add to the coolant. Does Mazda do anything like this? Any coolant ratio that I need to tell them about?

Thanks,
Drew

Brave man....

50/50 mix will work fine. No additives necessary.

I will take this opportunity to advise you on doing it yourself. Take the time to learn your car and perform these basic maintenance projects. Get your FSM out and get your hands dirty. I realize that not everyone is a mechanic, but these cars require attention and benefit from a knowledgeable owner. I would be interested to see if they drain the block, AST, and radiator before a refill.

Mazda RX-7 Reference Materials

my car was filled with noting but water and i was gonna do a flush as well. now ive noticed removing the radiator hose will not get all the water out, so where are the other drains so i can get everylast bit of mineral water out and fresh coolant in? also i do this everyday with the powerstrokes but could i pull vacuum on the cooling system and fill thus getting all the air out or are the seals not gonna like it?

There is a bolt on the center iron to drain the coolant from the engine on the spark plug side. There is usually a drain bolt on the rad as well. Drain from both.

thewird

noticed you've fired up a bunch of post. I understand you just got a 19 year old car with 18,000 original miles. I would be most worried about a bunch of small coolant hoses, the AST, and your stock radiator. Failure in these parts will force you to change coolant before it's time. For that matter you can count on anything rubber or plastic under the hood to break, quickly.

besides contaminants, things to check for need to change coolant are; pH and its potential for electrolysis.

best method for these engines is drain the radiator first then the block.

once you have the radiator drained, then drain the block, there is a 14mm bolt at the bottom of the center iron on the driver's side, remove it and let it drain completely.

now with both plugs out, fill the engine with water until the radiator fluid comes out clean. reinstall the radiator drain plug and then keep filling until the block fluid comes out clean. fill the engine, seal it up and run the engine for 15 minutes, let it cool then remove both plugs again and let it empty out completely.

now add a 60/40 mix of distilled water/full strength traditional green antifreeze.

you will never get everything out of the block passages, high water pressure and no thermostat is necessary for that, this is the next best alternative. if your radiator has no drain, hmmmm. block drain is all you can really do unless you want to pull out the radiator and have it flushed by a shop. all the crap in the system will settle on the bottom and it won't ever come out otherwise.

Hi Drew,

I recommend never bringing your FD to a Meineke, Jiffy Lube etc.

You're asking for trouble--- either a flooded car, one with an overheated engine, one with a blown engine, or one crashed into a tree during a 'road test.'

Proceed with caution, it's easier than you think to become a statistic.

QFT there are very few people id trust my FD with. random grease monkeys at a local lube shop is far from one of those people.

I cant see some school kid working part time at a lube shop is going to know the little tricks needed to change an FD's coolant properly.

They are not going to know to drain the block.
They are not going to know to crank the heater while filling up coolant.
They are also not going to know to remove the coolant throttle body hose while filling, and to fill untill coolant comes out of this hose.
Your asking for trouble.

Im going to bet you have coolant buzzer issues after you go there.

I have decided based on what you and everyone else has been saying to not get it flushed at a local lube shop. I am either going to learn how to do it myself, or bring it to an ex-mazda tech that has worked on rx7's for me before. He is extremely knowledgeable about everything Mazda, especially RX7's. He works on Miata and RX7 race cars.

Drew

Its not that had to do yourself lol.

thewird

^ good stuff mate that's the way to go.

I would suggest you learn to do it yourself. Its really a simple process; its just with the FD there are a couple of extra little steps that are not needed with most vehicles.

Maby you could get the best of both worlds, and get the mazda tech to do it, while you watch and maby do some hands on learning or something.

There's also quite a few detailed walk through threads here on 7club.

Try it yourself, and if you get stuck - we will be here to help you out.
Best of luck mate.