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[RichardH]

Well I think I have finally gotten a heater bypass valve failure on my car.  I have noticed over the last few months that the coolant level was dropping very slowly and I was having to top up by about an inch every two or three weeks.  Today while out driving I had a coolant warning pop up on the MID and I had lost most of my coolant.  I noticed a pool of water under the car also.

Its a bit dark so its hard to see the HBV but I did notice that one of the lower hoses was wet so I am assuming that it is in fact the HBV.

Can someone confirm if part number 90566947 is correct for a 2001 2.6 MV6?  I need to see how much the part will cost me in my local dealer in Ireland and if its way more expensive than UK dealers like it usually is, I will have to look at getting one shipped across the water.

[Welung666]

If it is more expensive, ask someone with a TC here to buy one and post it

[RichardH]

Cheers Welung66.  So do I have the right part number then?

[RichardH]

I picked up a new HBV from local dealer today.  It was probably twice the UK price, but for the sake of having it immediately and not waiting for one to be shipped across from the UK I went ahead and bought it.

I am going to have a go at changing this myself at the weekend and it will be the first big job I have done on a car so I am making sure I have everything lined up before I start the job.  I have read the excellent how to guide on replacing the HBV but I have some questions regarding putting coolant back into the car.

I have never done a coolant flush before and reading some posts on the forum has me a little confused as to the exact way of doing it.

I know that by undoing the radiator plug I won't be able to clear all of the water from the system, so how do I go about making sure that I have a proper 50/50 mix?  Is it best to pre-mix it before adding to the car?

If someone could walk me through the exact steps it would be great!

[odin]

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1193594464   thats where the how to on this site is takes a few hours

[RichardH]

Thanks for the link but my main query is about getting the right mix of coolant back in the system after changing the HBV.

[Boatboy]

Faced the same issue when I recently changed my thermostat.

Took the opportunity for a good flushing session with a hosepipe stuck in every possible hose end, at the end of which I was reasonably confident that the 4 1/2 litres approx of fluid content that does not drain down was clean water.

Rightly or wrongly I reasoned that adding another 4 1/2 litrs fluid of a 50/50 mix would eventually result in only a 25% strength mixture, so I took the step of adding 5 litres of pure coolant straight into the header tank.

After warming up and a bit of burping I topped off with roughly 1/2 litre of clean water, put the cap on and ran it up to full fan-on temperature. Visually at least the fluid seems to quickly blend into the correct mix. Not ideal perhaps but short of taking the water pump out couldn't think what else to do.


Steve

[RichardH]

Thanks Steve.

So just by opening the radiator drain valve, I can remove half of the coolant?

[Boatboy]

There or thereabouts. Might get a bit more if you blow into the header tank.

If you don't intend to flush through until clear and you are happy with the mix you have, I guess you could collect the drained coolant and use that to refill later?

[RichardH]

I had planned on flushing before the HBV failure anyway so I may as well do it at the same time.  Already have the new coolant.

Thanks again for the help Steve.  I'll give it a go on Saturday.

[RichardH]

One last question before I attempt this tomorrow.  I am going to try and get my hands on a pair of hose clip pliers to make my life easier when it comes to reomving the pipes on the HBV.  I see that there are different types of hose clip pliers available.  Can someone tell me what the exact name of the one I need is?  Is it the one below from Halfords?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_196601_langId_-1_categoryId_165469

[Jimbob]

One last question before I attempt this tomorrow.  I am going to try and get my hands on a pair of hose clip pliers to make my life easier when it comes to reomving the pipes on the HBV.  I see that there are different types of hose clip pliers available.  Can someone tell me what the exact name of the one I need is?  Is it the one below from Halfords?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_196601_langId_-1_categoryId_165469

I bought those to tackle my 1st HBV.....i use mole grips now, they take a lot of room to open and get the round the clips. access isnt great for this job

[Lazydocker]

One last question before I attempt this tomorrow.  I am going to try and get my hands on a pair of hose clip pliers to make my life easier when it comes to reomving the pipes on the HBV.  I see that there are different types of hose clip pliers available.  Can someone tell me what the exact name of the one I need is?  Is it the one below from Halfords?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_196601_langId_-1_categoryId_165469

I bought those to tackle my 1st HBV.....i use mole grips now, they take a lot of room to open and get the round the clips. access isnt great for this job

Yep, I use small mole grips too as they're far easier to manouver in the space available

[RichardH]

Mole grips is is then!  Thanks lads.

[Andy H]

I bought one of these http://www.lasertools.co.uk/item.aspx?cat=372&item=3427 and found it very helpful. It did cost me £35 though. (and I couldn't get it onto the big hose clip next to the bastard bolt because of lack of space)