[Vwdiesel] Best way to drain anti-freeze from new style TDI blocks

[James Hansen]

NO, you did just fine, except you wore coveralls that had too small a
sleeve.  Larger sleeves catch more of the coolant, and you lose less on the
floor, small sacrifices to keep a clean workspace...
I have a drain pan that measures 3' by 6' and still spill some.  Not much,
but there is always some splash.
-james

-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of Bryan Belman
Sent: February-10-12 12:10 PM
To: VWDiesel Group
Subject: [Vwdiesel] Best way to drain anti-freeze from new style TDI blocks

Last night I was successful in changing the thermostat on my 04 BEW motor.
 
It was not that hard, just time consuming.  I have "an OK heat system" in
garage so I am not complaining.
 
1. remove belly pan and clean up all the mess that comes out of it....
2. tried to drain G12 coolant to re-use (lifetime, right),
   A4 Jetta's have a neat drain valve at the lower dr. side corner of the
rad.  that worked well to get some out, do A3 VW's have this???
   I pulled the coolant hose to oil warmer/cooler and got more out that way,
figured I was good.
3. Removed the vacuum holding sphere bolted to front of block.
4. Remove large  battery cable to alt. for battery charging so not to get
sparks (Love the new way VW did the Positive Bus bar setup on top of the
battery, I only had to remove the thick black wire going to alt. instead of
disconnecting ALL Power to the car and having to reset my code on radio) 5.
Removed wiring harness to Alt. as it was in the way to get a swivel socket
setup on the lower 10mm / 5mm hex internal nut on low side of the thermostat
housing neck.  That was tough to get the 8mm nut off that holds it to alt.
no room for fingers....
6. Out comes the old thermostat and STILL, lots of fluid in the block comes
out all over my garage floor carpet and ME.  Need to scrap that carpet now
and replace with another scrapper.
It was just frozen about 1/2 way open, would not move it all, hey, better
then if it got stuck closed, at least I could still drive the car with it
this way for a year now until I found time to swap it.  I got a new plastic
housing from IDParts.com as well as I heard they often break, my old one was
fine, but swapped anyway.
7. I pulled my 3 coolant warmer glow plugs to test while I had fluid out of
motor.  they are all good.
 
So, what did I do wrong, how could I have drained the block better?
 
Thanks, signed, happy camper once I clear the CEL code this was causing and
get car inspected now.
 
 

Bryan Belman, Pt. Pleasant, NJ
04 Jetta Wagon TDI PD, 100hp, 5sp -- running :<)
92 Jetta 1.6 Eco-Turbo Diesel, 5sp -- running :<)
82 Diesel Westy 1.9NA -- running :<)
70 Type 1 stock Elm Green Beetle -- Under Restoration :-)
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