Bruce In Philly

These vacuum systems look pretty cool (I have five voices in my head telling me so), so some questions....

1 - Airlift has a brass one for $130, and a plastic one for $90... some others ..which one? why? alternatives?

2 - When you create a vacuum, does any remaining coolant in the engine boil off?

3 - How to I get all the coolant out? Some say just use the drain plugand forget about the rest, others say to remove a hose or two under there in addition to the plug... How did you do it?

4- Does the vacuum crush hoses and cause damage?

5 - Does the fluid really flow into all the nooks and crannies in there?

6 - How do I get my wife to understand?

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Hatzenbach

I only have a partial answer:
I used such a system and it was a total desaster
I followed the instructions step by step and thought I did everything right
However after that I had to gradually fill in at least a quart of coolant over the next couple days after driving the car and bringing it up to temp

But maybe I missed an important step somewhere in the process.....

jchapura

Bruce, what kind of voices are you hearing?

jchapura

Brass/plastic - I think the brass version is for a shop-like environment where the unit might get banged around while not being used. I think the plastic version might also be susceptible to degradation as the plastic "ages".

I don't think enough vacuum is pulled to induce boiling on the mixture but if it did I don't think the vapor would be a problem... When I used my AirLift, I never saw nor heard boiling (but the air compressor was running/making a lot of noise).

All coolant out? I did not go the "tip the car" or "remove the underbelly or radiator hoses". I drained what I could. Vacuumed the system (more came out). Then refilled with distilled. Ran/drove the car. Did this twice. Then did the final drain/refill. I learned that it's better to pre-mix the coolant and distilled rather than adding a pre-calculated amount of coolant and the balance of the volume with distilled water.

The vacuum definitely collapses the hoses. Damage? I don't think so and I have had no problem on mine since the multiple procedures.

Nook and cranny flow? - Yes.

You can still keep an eye on coolant level at the reservoir and employ the manual "burping" technique (while elevating the rear of the car to get any air bubble to try to exit out the reservoir). Or drive going downhill, etc.

German888

Bruce, See answers inline below...

Bruce In Philly;13999020]These vacuum systems look pretty cool (I have five voices in my head telling me so), so some questions....

1 - Airlift has a brass one for $130, and a plastic one for $90... some others ..which one? Brass. why? better quality. alternatives? Ebay $50 ish...

2 - When you create a vacuum, does any remaining coolant in the engine boil off? NO

3 - How to I get all the coolant out? Some say just use the drain plugand forget about the rest, others say to remove a hose or two under there in addition to the plug... How did you do it? Pull the undertrays off and go to work. Pull as many as you can and let it drain.

4- Does the vacuum crush hoses and cause damage? Yes is collapses the hoses and no is does not cause damage.

5 - Does the fluid really flow into all the nooks and crannies in there? I'd say 95% and rest burps out within the first few heat cycles. Use the purge valve on the overflow tank.

6 - How do I get my wife to understand? Dinner / back rub / you know what to do next...

Peace
Bruce in Philly[/QUOTE]

Edgy01

Bruce,

I needed to replace my waterpump recently and decided to get the Airlift system which is a great piece of equipment.



For less than $130 the UView 550000 system is pretty nice. I simply followed the directions, which are rather simple when used with your air compressor, and in no time my rubber tubes were collapsed (good sign) and I wound up putting in several gallons of the right mix. I did end up adding a bit more within a couple of days simply because these are extremely convoluted cooling systems and even these hi-tech tools can't get every nook and cranny, initially. However, it is worth every cent, for it's just a heck of a job. It keeps the mess of dealing with EGW to a minimum.

I got mine through the provided link, and it arrived in a timely fashion.

Bruce In Philly

I find my voices fall into a few different categories, they tell me:

1) My car is falling apart.... ooooh... what was that? A creak? a pop?
2) My car already fell apart... because I neglected to replace ......
3) My tools are no good. They guy next door has better tools than me... Every Rennlister laughs at my little tool
4) My wife doesn't understand
5) Of course I can afford that one.... get the deluxe model.... better get two... get all sizes... you never know ....
6 ) Why do I listend to the other voices when this voice is the correct one
7) Trump is great
8) Trump is evil
9) You need another beer.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

semicycler

Lol! I started price shopping airlift systems and alternatives because of you. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, but will likely - my kid's beater needs a cooling flush so why not buy an airlift that will work on the pcar? right?

Derek Zoolander

FWIW, I replaced my coolant during my water pump replacement and burped it no problem without using a vacuum refill kit.

kisik

Bruce,

My shop uses Airlift very successfully with some extra bottle of Waterwetter and I use my purge valve to finish a job. On a wife side, just use word "safety"... works for me always when I spend extra money fr my car.

altonj

We use a Snap On version for every coolant fill. Flip the pressure release valve on the black plastic "cap" on the tank to aid in the vacuum portion. Fill with coolant.