Fan Hydrallic Fluid flush: Urgent

[tbirdnlincoln]

This might be the biggest bone head move on the entire LVC forum, but while trying to purge my cooling system of an air bubble, I put about a cup or so of antifreeze in the hydrallic fluid reservoir instead of the degas tank (As my Porsche driving buddy asked, "Who puts the degas tank at the firewall?). I am not sure if the fans were on while it ran for a couple of minutes prior to my figuring out what I had done, but hopefully no damage has been done. I shut it down and the car has remained stationary. I now need to purge and flush the hydrallic fan system. Any ideas on where to start?

 

[lseguy]

FYI..you are not the first. But I cant recall the solution the prior persons had. If you search (im not even certain what search criteria to recommend) you may find what they did. Good luck

 

[Quik LS]

No easy way I know of....

you may have to use the ol' pull the hose off the pump, drain it, fill it up, run it a bit, drain it again - to get all fluid out.

The hose going from the high pressure-side of the pump to the fan is a tough one to get to (at the pump side)... so stay away from that.

When you refill it - you have to pull the cap off the reservoir and create a vacuum to ‘suck’ the air pockets out. If you hear ‘whining’ when the fan is running – it’s a sign that you need to bleed it more.

 

[tbirdnlincoln]

Thanks to both of you for your feedback. I did see one post where someone recommended using a turkey baster to change the fluid in the reservoir. I was thinbking about using a little siphon pump to pump the reservoir down, add some fluid, run 30 seconds, pump, run, pump, run etc. Would this eliminate the need to pulling a vacuum since I am not dropping a hose? Hopefully, this won't kill my pump & fan, but I though if I did it enough, it would eventaully get out all of the antifreeze. Thanks again.

 

[97stscaddy]

(As my Porsche driving buddy asked, "Who puts the degas tank at the firewall?)

I believe Porsche does that with the Boxster... :shifty:

If the engine was running then the pump would circulate the fan fluid.

The best way, would be to Remove the reservoir, put the return hose to the reservoir into a bucket. Get some extra hose if you need it. Clamp a transmission fluid funnel to the feed hose to the pump and fill it up with fresh fluid that is called for in the manual for the fan (Get 4 to 6 quarts of it). Now have a friend start the engine and let the pump push the fresh fluid through the hoses and fan drive and out into the bucket. Keep pouring in fresh fluid until it starts to come out the other end clean, then cut off the engine and put it all back together. Fill the reservoir to the specified level and allow time for any air to bleed out of the system.