Smaller radiator with manual tranny?

[hooperswish1]

My owners manual states that my 2006 jeep liberty with a 3.7 engine takes 14 quarts of coolant. Actually, this radiator does not look very big, and I did not get near that much out with a drain. I did not drain the engine plugs, just did a fill, drain, repeat with distilled water a few times. I then added about 5 qts of straight zerex g-05 coolant (as the manual states). Now I am a little concerned about my ratio of coolant to water. I think I will get a little ball tester and check the freeze point. Any thoughts?
Does an Automatic typically have a bigger radiator and/or have more coolant? Does the manual fail to state this?
Thanks.

 

[eljefino]

Your manual is probably quite correct, your assumption of how much you get out with a rad drain is optimistic.

I luck out and usually get 50% of capacity so a flush, ending with 100% antifreeze as you did, gets me in the right.

If you did the job up on ramps, even more stuff is lower than the drain cock.

If your rad is like my cherokee was, the drain isn't even close to the bottom!

 

[TallPaul]

Makes sense that an automatic would need a bigger radiator than a manual as the automatic has to work harder for the same rear wheel output given there is some power loss pushing all that fluid around. Guess that's one reason they call them slushboxes.

On my Chevy 454 V8 (2000 model year) I was able to totally drain the cooling system because there was a coolant drain plugh on either side of the engine block. Plug looks like the one for the oil drain on an old Briggs and Stratton or Techumseh lawn mower where the drain is under the deck.

 

[bepperb]

The coolant portion of the radiator is usually the same size. An automatic will have a transmission cooler built into the bottom 2" of radiator, so it's radiator is physically larger, but the coolant area is likely the same size, as will be the coolant capacity.

Getting a ball tester seems like a reasonable thing to do, if you're unsure about the mix of antifreeze.

 

[c3po]

Obviously if you are able to get to the coolant plugs in your engine block more coolant will come out.

 

[G-MAN]

Typically, for the same vehicle available with an auto or manual, the one with the auto will have a larger radiator capacity. The reason being that the coolant in the radiator is also cooling the transmission fluid (even if there is an external transmission oil cooler), and warming the fluid in cold weather.

 

[demarpaint]

IIRC 14 qts is total capacity of the cooling system complete fill including the heater core, hoses, etc. The best way to check if you have the proper ratio is with a coolant tester.

Worst case is this: You have to drain a couple of qts from the radiator and add straight AF to the system.

 

[jldcol]

Auto trans also commonly get AC added which will need more coolant capacity. If going to drain/flush try to catch and measure what comes out, can use drain plug or suck out. Capacity in OM can included the overflow bottle capacity, a qt. or so, or not need to be sure. Roughly 1/2 seems in rad and engine. You can get a coolant strength tester and adjust mixture later if needed.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul

On my Chevy 454 V8 (2000 model year) I was able to totally drain the cooling system because there was a coolant drain plugh on either side of the engine block. Plug looks like the one for the oil drain on an old Briggs and Stratton or Techumseh lawn mower where the drain is under the deck.


Interesting, I'll have to look for that. I tried to drain the coolant a while ago on our 1999 Suburban with the 454, but got frustrated when I discovered the the radiator drain let out the coolant horizontally onto the frame, from which it spilled out over a 1' area behind the bumper. Messy.

 

[cos]

hooperswish1,

Next time you might want to just do two drain 'n fills with 50/50 (G-05/DW), that way your assured you have a 50/50 mix when your done.

 

[Dan55]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that your problem is that you can only drain out 5 qts at a time. To get more out your going to let the car run until the thermostat opens and lets more water out of the engine block.Shut the car off and let it sit to cool down the engine about 20 minutes. Then add 7 qts of Conc G-05 and the remainder water. I have done this in the past on older vehicles without any problems.

 

[hooperswish1]

I did a simple coolant strength test and all 5 balls floated, indicating excellent freeze point (-37 I believe), so all is well. Thanks for all of your responses.
What I was wondering was, if I were to drain out 5 qts. and replace with 50/50, and did this once a year, would this suffice in keeping the system in prime condition, or do you think a full flush is needed less often?

 

[jldcol]

Put what you drain out in a clean glass and let it settle for a while, if you see lots of stuff fallen out of suspension maybe do the flush again, if not drain and refill is ok and short money.