Just finished. Goggles and gloves are a must. Not just a safety precaution that everybody puts in their DIY's..... coolant drains rapidly and will splash more than you would think. If you unscrew the 14mm bolt previously referenced, coolant will shoot out a good couple feet. No joke. Be ready. Also, observe cool down times after every fill. During the second rinse, I waited only 15-20 minutes and drained the radiator. It was barely warm. After my first couple rinse experiences, I figured the coolant behind the 14mm would be similar. WRONG! VERY hot!!

The owner's manual states the coolant capacity at 2.6 gallons. By unscrewing the phillips screw under the radiator and unscrewing the 14mm opposite the oil drain plug that has been referenced here, you can drain right over 2 gallons I'd say. On the second rinse, it will come out almost perfectly clear. I certainly see no reason for a third if using this method. And certainly no reason to remove the plastic under tray.

 

(2) questions...

--How much will drain out if you just unscrew the 14mm opposite from the oil plug?

--What pan size should you use to catch the fluid? From reading this, I'm thinking I'll need to return what I bought and get a 10 qt bucket..

 

10qt bucket is 2.5 gallons, plenty big.

Just need to dump it after each flush.

A little over a gallon will come out with the 14mm next to the oil sensor on the pan.

Make sure and have a cut gallon water jug as a shield catch to direct it into the pan. Otherwise it will soak the suspension and the wall next to the car. Thankfully I saw that tip before draining from that bolt.

Goggles are a must.

 

I recommend two 10q catch pans. One under the radiator. And while that's draining, one under (I use the term under loosely) the 14mm. It can easily be done with one, but there's a lot of fluid to drain here. I now have five gallon-sized jugs filled with waste sitting in my garage. Half coolant half oil. Damn oil left in the drain pans from previous work. I know Auto Zone is going to give me **** about that. They must take it or it goes in the sewer. I have no other options! WTF do they expect me to do?!

 

You mean my SST? Glad that came in handy!

IIRC you can dispose of ethylene glycol in the sewer but don't quote me on that. If you tell AZ it's coolant contaminated oil instead of oil contaminated coolant them might take it

 

Yes CnnmnSchnpps your shop specified tool works great.

The coolant is acceptable for dumping down the toilet.

 

I don't mean to sound like a dumbass, but may anyways:

Why do this every single year?

The owner's manual specifies either at 60k miles or 48 months, whichever comes first.

 

because it's cheap and easy to do. It will also alert you to more serious issues before they become expensive issues (ie. discolored fluid)

 

Why change oil every 3 K when the manual said every 7500 miles ?

why do it at home when the manual said do it at Authorized Mazda dealer ?

- I want my car to live longer

- I want to save money

- I want to avoid my car falling into the wrong hands. that wrong hands could be your own, but Im pretty sure you cared your car more than anyone else on earth and you will try to avoid any possible failure, right ?

 

quick question..

i plan on tracking my car this season, maybe a few times a month. should i stick with the FL-22 coolant or is there something else you guys recommend???? preferrably something i can use all year round.

and im in NY just incase you guys were wondering.

 

very nice write up, just did mine, took me a while to remove the damn plastic thing, but you really don't need to remove it, there is a cutout circle in the tray for the drainplug.

 

Question, I just spent all on my car and I'm feeling lazy so if I wanted to just get this done somewhere, what would be the chances that they did it properly you think?

 

GREAT DIY. Just did my first coolant flush. the goggles were KEY. Also, using the cut, upside down jug for the engine bolt was a great tip - helped keep things much cleaner. I haven't bled the system yet as it started raining, but I got pretty close to all the fluid in that I will get (I think) - I drained from the radiator without removing the under body panel, and the engine bolt and got very close to 2 gallons out all 3 times (original empty + 2 flushes) which means there should have been only about a 1/2 gallon of water in there. Honestly, the toughest part was measuring 1.25 gallons of Prestone out of the jugs (they taper at the top so it's tough to gauge where 1/4 is on the second container) to get a good 50/50 ratio (I live in chicago and won't be changing again before winter).

All in all - went very smooth - did 2 flushes, this was my first coolant job and it took me just shy of 3 hours. Thanks for the DIY!

 

Don't forget your Heater Core under dash has coolant in it.

Temp dial must be on to Hot, High, 32 degrees C, whatever you have so that the Heater Tap is open.

Otherwise if it is summer and it is off, you are NOT flushing ANY of your Old coolant out that remains in Heater Core Radiator, would probably hold under a Quart or 1.5 Pints, or just over a litre.

 

My neighbors yard...

 

After flushing all the coolant out of the radiator and the heater core out with distilled water, I filled her back up with the mazda FL22. Right after i turned the A/C on cold for the first time, I noticed this stinky smell coming out of the vents. It was pretty strong at first so I proceeded to blast the cold air and then turned it to hot. The smell went away after a few cycles but on a long trip over this past weekend, I began to notice a faint version of the smell esp when the car is blowing cold A/C on fresh. I had a few ppl sit in the to observe but they couldn't smell it. The smell is at the end of a whiff. The smell gives me a slight headache...and i know it was there before i flushed the coolant.

Any thoughts?

 

This may sound like a dumb question but how exactly do you change the ratio of 50/50, coolant to distilled water? I mean obviously you add more distilled water but how do you know you have a 40/60 coolant to water ratio? Do you just do 50/50 coolant then add distilled water? or is there a specific coolant only then add distilled water? Sorry its late and I dont have much experience with coolant changes and im very curious and want to do a coolant change myself soon...

 

Exactly why I'll not change mine again myself. 'round here it's a major league PITA to find a place that will take the old coolant.

 

It's safe to dump it in the sewer now-a-days.

No. I'm not kidding.

 

Was halfway through flushing the radiator today. Couldnt finish the second flush because it got too dark out. I removed all the bolts and fasteners for the undertray then realized it is not necessary because I am only draining the radiator -_-... Will finish with the flushing tomorrow and do a proper drainage the next season with the engine plug.

 

I don't have a storm sewer in the typical sense, rather a runout to an overflow retaining field area. At the very least it still kills foliage and animals who drink it.

But then I'm not the type to remove my Cat either.

 

Great DIY, i just did this and finished about 10 minutes ago. Went great.

 

Thanks for the great coolant change DYI took me 5 hours today!!

 

In regards to getting air pockets out of the coolant system, wouldn't just letting the car run for a certain period of time just push the air pockets out of the system into the overflow?

 

Most, yes, but invariably there's just a bit more air and it doesn't take much to bound up the flow. Always bleed.