Coolant Level VZ Alloytec V6

[krusing]

Thank you, but that link about bleeding the system refers to pink coolant, but mines always been GREEN.
Right or not?

I'll get a 140kPa cap from Holden

I had green coolant in my Adventra when I bought it, and changed to Red.

 

[Neal]

I had green coolant in my Adventra when I bought it, and changed to Red.

I'm totally confused, but from what I've researched, red coolant is specified, green is OK, although they shouldn't be mixed .
I'll get that 140kPa cap tomorrow from Holden at Castle Hill, then have the cooling system properly flushed, and stick with the green coolant to ensure there's no mixing.

 

[krusing]

I was having the very same issue at you @Neal,
Welcome to My World
I have VZ Nov 2006 CX6 Adventra, and was loosing water all the time,
as mentioned I had green coolant,
and slowly got diluted as I kept topping it up, and could not find the leak.
I pressure tested it and found the leak at the Heater Tap. [as below]

I changed the filler neck because I purchased a couple of Coolant Caps and would not seal correctly, as the filler neck was corroded, possible due to one of the previous owners not maintaining it and keeping coolant topped up, and so it possibly corroded, [as below]

So I changed to Red, and found the red trail of coolant, pretty much straight away on every leak,

The first leak was the heater Tap, the little O-ring fails, and it weeps past it,
I removed the seal cover and placed another tiny O-ring in it, fixed that,
But it managed to leak somewhere else,

I bit the bullet and replace the filler neck with an earlier type, that had the larger screw on cap,
Sourced it from a wrecker, cleaned it up, and already had the 2 new seals from when I did the chains, [the second time]
And that fixed the issues, for a little while !
but,
I found another place it was leaking,
So I replaced the Radiator, [split at the bottom behind the fan shroud]
then it found another leak,
The LARGE O-Ring on the supply pipe up to the thermostat housing, [did that from under the car]
Replaced that,
then found another leak,
The 2 Heater Pipe O-Rings on the back of the Thermostat housing,
Replace them,

NO MORE LEAKS !
NO MORE TOPPING IT UP !
and runs just over 1/4 temp on the gauge, [consistantly]

Unfortunately, it took along time to sort it out [possibly 8 weeks], but really pleased I did, so I know a bit about them now.

 

[krusing]

I forgot to include,

You do need to bleed these systems by removing the plastic bleed bung on the back top/right hand side of the right tank, [under the top shroud]
then keep topping it up, and re-fit the bleed bung.
[When you have the bleed bung out, check the that the o-ring on it is ok]

Then the next day you will notice it may need a re-top up, and then it should be ok after that,
But check it every so often.

 

[krusing]

@Neal ,
"Just out of interest, are you a member of the Adventra FB pages" ?

 

[Fu Manchu]

Thank you, but that link about bleeding the system refers to pink coolant, but mines always been GREEN.
Right or not?

I'll get a 140kPa cap from Holden

Your VZ is supposed to use red coolant. Not green coolant. That is the type they came with from factory. Someone will have changed it at some point in the cars life.

You should use red.

Regardless, the system pressure was revised by Holden and changed to 140kPa.

The same bleed procedure should be followed no matter what colour you use.

As the linked thread states, I started doing this with the VP in order to solve long running problems I was getting. A Holden technician taught me how to do it. The VP VR VS VT VX used green coolant off the top of my head. Maybe VY as well.

This is pink coolant

In the Hyundai in my drive.

This is the red coolant

The bleed cap in the radiator only assist with filling the system.

Bleeding the system requires two or three openings of the thermostat before the air is purged.

You can fill and leave but if while you are driving some air comes out and coolant replaces the volume, the reservoir can go dry, air returns to the system and back to square one.

Much safer and thorough to bleed the system first go.

If you have a compressor, you can get the vacuum fillers that do it all in minutes without having any air bleed required. They also test the integrity of the system for leaks by holding a vacuum for a few minutes. (Opposite of pressure testing I guess) That is how they are filled on the assembly line. One of these is on my to get list.

 

[Neal]

I was having the very same issue at you @Neal,
Welcome to My World
I have VZ Nov 2006 CX6 Adventra, and was loosing water all the time,
as mentioned I had green coolant,
and slowly got diluted as I kept topping it up, and could not find the leak.
I pressure tested it and found the leak at the Heater Tap. [as below]

I changed the filler neck because I purchased a couple of Coolant Caps and would not seal correctly, as the filler neck was corroded, possible due to one of the previous owners not maintaining it and keeping coolant topped up, and so it possibly corroded, [as below]

So I changed to Red, and found the red trail of coolant, pretty much straight away on every leak,

The first leak was the heater Tap, the little O-ring fails, and it weeps past it,
I removed the seal cover and placed another tiny O-ring in it, fixed that,
But it managed to leak somewhere else,

I bit the bullet and replace the filler neck with an earlier type, that had the larger screw on cap,
Sourced it from a wrecker, cleaned it up, and already had the 2 new seals from when I did the chains, [the second time]
And that fixed the issues, for a little while !
but,
I found another place it was leaking,
So I replaced the Radiator, [split at the bottom behind the fan shroud]
then it found another leak,
The LARGE O-Ring on the supply pipe up to the thermostat housing, [did that from under the car]
Replaced that,
then found another leak,
The 2 Heater Pipe O-Rings on the back of the Thermostat housing,
Replace them,

NO MORE LEAKS !
NO MORE TOPPING IT UP !
and runs just over 1/4 temp on the gauge, [consistantly]

Unfortunately, it took along time to sort it out [possibly 8 weeks], but really pleased I did, so I know a bit about them now.

Many thanks Mate.....As mentioned, I had the water pump, thermostat, and the heater tap done while having the transmission rebuilt (after only 160,000kM of entirely on-road use by the original owner ).

As pressure testing didn't reveal any leaks, I'm hoping that the other leaks you found on yours won't arise with mine any time soon, and that a proper bleed and a genuine cap (140kPa) will resolve everything .

Mine already has the large, black screw on cap (albeit 125kPa), but I will keep an eye out for a replacement filler neck as cheap "insurance" just in case though.

 

[Fu Manchu]

Holden specify GM 6277M
Dex-Cool Red

From Allan Mance Holden

From the factory manual. (produced pre-pressure change for the cap)

I haven't found a green coolant that conforms to 6277M

 

[lout]

be careful using deathcool
killed many a radiator back in the day

 

[Neal]

@Neal ,
"Just out of interest, are you a member of the Adventra FB pages" ?

No........I haven't found Facebook to be particularly useful, and while not wishing to generalise, I've read quite a few comments on vehicle-related Groups from unnecessarily argumentative people, who mostly talk about tires, breaks, and duel exhausts (at 20 paces) . No doubt the Adventra Group would be different!