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996 Coolant Change - Superb Time Saving Tool

356D

Active member
Joined
26 Jan 2015
Messages
33
My 6tt suffered a bust lower coolant hose and lost enough coolant to mean it was undriveable and so was a DIY fix in the garage.

I read of the trauma and time taken by folk refilling the coolant system by topping up the tank and bleeding it by tipping the car over several hours and in some cases several days.

A trip to the OPC to get some parts and coolant lead me to research the vacuum fill tool that the tech in the dealer discussed.

I bought this: https://www.drapertools.com/product...al-Cooling-System-Vacuum-Purge-and-Refill-Kit There are others also.

Sceptical of it's worth I drained most of the system to effect a complete coolant change and hooked up the kit. 3 minutes to draw a vacuum and collapse all the coolant hoses with lots of gurgling and burping from the pipes.

It took less that 5 minutes then to suck 18 litres of coolant from a bucket and fill the system. Over the next few days the level remained stable, no signs of airlocks, no drop in level.

I'd encourage anyone thinking of this to buy or borrow the kit. It's superb.

Tempted to drain and refill again just for the fun of it...
 
I agree, they are a real help. I used one on my 996 C2 when I changed the radiators. Also useful for checking for leaks.

MC
 
Always great to read a first hand experience like this.

Thanks
 
From personnel experience .. erm .. no .. it doesnt pull a very good vacumn .. i bought one .. used it twice and it pretty much packed up .. you need a very good vacumn so 25 on the gauge .. this never reached that .. pipe bores are too small .

For a one off though .. yup .. but as said it didnt last long .
 
Those cheap ebay ones are utter junk. The caps are actually pretty good but the main unit is plastic rubbish. Mine fell apart on the first use. They then sent me another which also fell apart so they sent me another and refunded me most of the cost (which shows are cheaply produced they are).

I then did it the old fashioned way. If I decided to try again I'd buy the Draper one and use the caps from the cheap kit.
 
Stoo.c said:
Those cheap ebay ones are utter junk. The caps are actually pretty good but the main unit is plastic rubbish. Mine fell apart on the first use. They then sent me another which also fell apart so they sent me another and refunded me most of the cost (which shows are cheaply produced they are).

I then did it the old fashioned way. If I decided to try again I'd buy the Draper one and use the caps from the cheap kit.

Yeah. Buy it right or buy it twice etc... :D

The Draper one had all the right bits for the 996 including the cap. It seemed loose on initial installation but tightened up perfectly and held vacuum for over 20 minutes whilst I mixed the coolant.
 
This is the one I got, I knew it was not expensive and came from eBay.



I paid £32 for it, it is all metal construction. From a quick look on eBay it looks like they have changed the design now. No doubt to save money. :x
The old design is still available. I don't know how long it will last, I have used it once so far. I will be using it again when I get around to filling up the coolant on my C4. With the front centre radiator design as it is the vacuum will be important for filling it.

MC
 
+1 for the Draper. The cost is relative...less than one hour of OPC labor. I was impressed with how fast I could get 18L to fill at one go with no fuss. I thought the job would take 3 hours, but only took one hour full-empty-full, with two 5 gal buckets available for the job.
 
MisterCorn said:
This is the one I got, I knew it was not expensive and came from eBay.



I paid £32 for it, it is all metal construction. From a quick look on eBay it looks like they have changed the design now. No doubt to save money. :x
The old design is still available. I don't know how long it will last, I have used it once so far. I will be using it again when I get around to filling up the coolant on my C4. With the front centre radiator design as it is the vacuum will be important for filling it.

MC

Yeah that looks infinitely better than the rubbish they sent me by virtue of it being metal and so a bit more sturdy. All the connections flew apart sending springs everywhere before I even connected it all up :grin:
 

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