Oddly miraculous results from changing coolant

[Futuramic]

The other day I treated the Volvo to a full radiator and block flush (with a garden hose no less) and emptied out all the sickly, smelly old green coolant.I the filled her up again with a much more pleasant mixture of official Volvo Type C antifreeze and distilled water.That was very interesting for everyone, I know, but the results have been nothing short of jaw dropping.Before I carried this out the car warmed up nicely and the gauge sat firmly in the middle. Since doing this, the engie now purrs smoothly at idle and warms up more quickly. Gone is the sluggishness from cold, and she also seems to pull better through the gears. The heater is more responsive and staggeringly it has cured the slight clutch judder. All gear changes and pulling away have become silky soft.I can only assume the engine was running a little too hot and this was causing fuel supply issues. The engine now seems generally cooler, happier and vibrates less.I am delighted, but none of this makes any sense. I only changed the coolant but feel as if I have a new car.

[Station]

If it's injected, it probably was the coolant temp sensor.If that happened to me, I would only wait for something catastophic to happen, as it usually does.

[Futuramic]

If it's injected, it probably was the coolant temp sensor.If that happened to me, I would only wait for something catastophic to happen, as it usually does.

Can't be, I have the PROPPA SHITE RWD OMMGGG! dRifTIN Bendix fully mechanical injection setup. There are no sensors, or indeed an ECU. It works but causes neat petrol to spew out of the exhaust pipe. Classy. It should actually do that, it's not a major fault.

[garethj]

causes neat petrol to spew out of the exhaust pipe.

You want a spark plug in the tailpipe, you do

[ashmicro]

Better thermodynamics, my good man. I once did exactly the same thing with a wedge 214SLi, with similarly impressive outcome.Fluids are frequently negelcted at the shite end of the market. Case in point - we bought a "knackered" (seller's description) W124 E220 auto (1990) from auction some time ago, and it was indeed a sickly Boxhead. A day's spannering, changing coolant, oil, ATF and diff fluid made an unbelievable difference.

[vicsmith]

I`m glad you started this thread, it made me realise I had not changed the coolant at all in my 1991 Mazda 323 in the 6 years I have had it, and the following day I found a litre of Duckhams antifreeze in my cellar, so the deal was done, I did exactly what you did and yielded similar results, especially with cold starts. In addition, I was minded to check my Capri, which turned out to have a radiator full of tomato soup coloured water, so that`s the next job on the list.Great thread, hopefully now it`s back on page one it will spawn a couple more belated coolant changes, it`s certainly not a bad time of year to do it.