Radiator Flush

Just bought a Citroen C3 Desire 2005 Senso Drive about 2 weeks ago and giving it a go over.
Noticed that the coolant was sludgy so tried a radiator flush as you would.
On replacing the OAT its only taken 3 or so litres before it was full!
That cant be right can it? What can we have done wrong?
On running the engine for 10 or so minutes, all fans in the car were turning heat,
and the temperature gauge didn't even start to rise so we would assume its fine, but we are a bit worried that it hasn't taken enough coolant/water mix!?
Help!!!

davevicbob wrote:Just bought a Citroen C3 Desire 2005 Senso Drive about 2 weeks ago and giving it a go over.
Noticed that the coolant was sludgy so tried a radiator flush as you would.
On replacing the OAT its only taken 3 or so litres before it was full!
That cant be right can it? What can we have done wrong?
On running the engine for 10 or so minutes, all fans in the car were turning heat,
and the temperature gauge didn't even start to rise so we would assume its fine, but we are a bit worried that it hasn't taken enough coolant/water mix!
Help!!!

Hi davevicbob

You need to put in the same quantity that you drained out.

If you only drained the radiator then you need to put the same amount of coolant back in to the radiator, which won't be very much. But if you drained the whole system down then you will need to refill it with anywhere form 5.7 to 7 litres depending on the engine.

Waste antifreeze and coolant should be drained into a container that can then be sealed and disposed of responsibly due its toxicity.

There is a topic on the C3 coolant and its refilling procedure in this topic (here).

Thanks for your reply.
What else am i looking to drain on the C3? I have come from a 98 Ford Fiesta as my first car, which ive had for a while and its a lot more simple under the hood. Should we be looking for bleed valves? And if so would this help us to get more fluid in? Thanks

davevicbob wrote:Thanks for your reply.
What else am i looking to drain on the C3? I have come from a 98 Ford Fiesta as my first car, which ive had for a while and its a lot more simple under the hood. Should we be looking for bleed valves? And if so would this help us to get more fluid in? Thanks

To fully drain a petrol C3:

Unscrew the coolant filler cap and remove it,
Remove the bottom radiator hose from the radiator and make sure the coolant goes into a suitable container, you will be draining about 6 litres so be sure your container can manage that.
Remove the bleed point screw on the heater hose near the bulkhead/firewall,
Remove the air filter assembly unit to get access to the bleed point on the cylinder head, remove this screw.

If you are flushing it can also be helpful to remove the thermostat and flush through that.

Refill with G30 OAT coolant concentrate and sufficient De-ionised water (5L) to meet a 50:50 mix, but this would depend on where you are in the world.

Just done mine see my post citroen-c3-questions/heater-matrix-t2266.html

use an old 1 litre bottle as a header tank when refilling (this is recommended) fit it into the coolant tank and seal around it with some tape to stop leaks. Slacken the bleed screw on the flywheel end of the cylinder head and another one on the heater matrix hose just before it passes through the bulkhead into the cabin. You should hear the air hissing out of the head bleed screw as you are filling it.

Be careful not to overtighten this screw I managed to strip the thread without much force at all! In fact I would not take it out because if you drop it and lose it it would be a pain to say the least!

I also used 7 litres of coolant to fill the system.

Hope this helps.