Opel Astra H Coolant Replacement

You will need: a flat-blade screwdriver, coolant, a clean rag, a container for draining coolant with a capacity of at least 10 liters, pliers.

Note:

According to the recommendation of the car manufacturer, the coolant on the Opel Astra should be replaced after 45 thousand kilometers or 2 years of operation (whichever comes first).

Use ethylene glycol based coolants (antifreeze). 

The coolant is toxic, so be careful when handling it.

When starting the engine, the cap of the expansion tank must be tightly closed. The cooling system is under pressure when the engine is running, so if the plug is loosely screwed on, coolant may leak out from under it.

Change the coolant only when the engine is cold.

Replacing the coolant Opel Astra

1. Install the car on a flat horizontal platform.

2. Turn away a stopper of a broad tank.

3. Put on the drain valve on the radiator of the cooling system, located in the lower part of the tank on the right side of the radiator, a piece of hose of suitable diameter. Place a container under the hose and turn off the tap.

4. Drain the coolant from the Opel Astra.

Warning:

Antifreeze is deadly poisonous to all living things. In order not to pollute the environment, drain it from the radiator through a funnel (for example, made from a plastic soda bottle).

5. To ensure complete draining of the liquid from the system and guaranteed removal of air from it during refueling, compress the antennae of the collar of the throttle assembly heating hose. 

6. Slide the clamp along the hose and remove the hose from the fitting of the intermediate tube for supplying coolant to the throttle assembly.

7. Close the drain cock.

Note

If the expansion tank is very dirty, then remove and wash it.

8. Flush the cooling system by reinstalling the coolant supply hose to the throttle assembly and slowly fill the system with water through the expansion tank to the level of the steam outlet pipe.

9. Start the engine and let it run until the electric fan turns on.

10. Stop the engine and drain the water.

11. Flush the cooling system until clean water begins to drain.

12. Again disconnect a hose from the union of an intermediate tube of a supply of a cooling liquid to a throttle knot.

13. Fill the engine cooling system by pouring coolant into the expansion tank until it starts to pour out of the intermediate tube fitting and from the removed hose. At the moment the liquid starts to flow out, install the hose in place and secure with a clamp.

14. Start the engine and warm it up to operating temperature (before turning on the fan). After that, stop the engine, check the coolant level and, if necessary, add it to the expansion tank just above the "KALT / COLD" mark.

Note:

With the engine running, observe the engine overheat warning light in the instrument cluster. If the warning light comes on and the radiator fan does not turn on, turn on the heater and check how much air is passing through it. If the heater supplies heated air, the fan is most likely defective, and if it supplies cold air, then an air lock has formed in the engine cooling system. To remove it, turn off the engine, let it cool and unscrew the plug of the expansion tank. Start the engine, let it run for 3-5 minutes and tighten the reservoir cap.

Helpful Hints:

For better filling of the system without air pockets, periodically squeeze the radiator hoses by hand. After a few days of operation of the Opel Astra car, after replacing the coolant, check its level. Top up if necessary.

If after a very short time the color of the fresh liquid turned brown, then you filled in a fake, in which the manufacturer “forgot” to add corrosion inhibitors. In addition, one of the signs of a fake is a sharp complete discoloration of the liquid. The dye of high-quality coolant is very resistant and only darkens over time. The liquid, tinted with linen blue, is discolored. Such "antifreeze" must be replaced faster.

Source: http://www.automnl.com/model/opel_astra_h2/195/