Changing Coolant
The coolant system should be filled completely with distilled water and Water Wetter. Do not use antifreeze, it’s super slippery and a spill on track would be a bad thing!
To change coolant
Section titled “To change coolant”- Drain: Open the radiator cap (when cool) and open the drain valve on the left side. If you want, you can disconnect the coolant hose off the lowest point (where it connects into the bottom of the engine) to get the last little bit out. See Winterize your RUSH SR for an example.
- Seal: Close the radiator valve and reattach the hose (if you removed it).
- Fill: Pour in a full bottle of Water Wetter and add distilled water until no more goes in. Jacking up the rear end can help air escape letting more coolant in. Capacity is on the Fluids page if you want to buy ahead.
- Burp — Get the air out of the system: With the radiator cap off, start the engine and let it idle until the thermostat opens, about 195F. When that happens, a gurgle of water and air will come out of the fill port. Shut off the engine and top up the radiator with distilled water. A radiator funnel such as the EPAuto coolant filling funnel makes this much easier: it premixes the Water Wetter and catches the coolant that burps out.
- Close: Reinstall the radiator cap ensuring the red lever is aligned with the cap notch and fully down.
- Check: It’s a good idea to check the coolant after the next session as more air may have been bled out leaving more room for coolant.
Storing the car
Section titled “Storing the car”Store the cooling system wet. Which coolant to leave in it depends on how cold the car will get: see Winterizing for the temperature ratings and the caution about glycol.
See also
Section titled “See also”- Water Temperature - what to do when the car overheats on track.
- After an overheat - checking for lost coolant once you are back in.
- Winterizing - what to leave in the system for storage.
