Hello all. I just signed up cuz I need help with a specific task. I have a 2002 Mazda Protege manual trans and need to know step by step how to change the coolant. I need as much info as possible on this as a friend is going to be doing this by themselves for the first time and has no idea what to do. Also what kind of coolant should go in to refill it?

Thanks for any help.

 

Hi, I have a '99 Protege 1.8L DX manual trans. Directions are in the owner's manual and are very straightforward except they don't specify that you should turn the cabin heat to full hot to ensure that the heat exchanger benefits from the clean out as well.
What I'm saying here applies to my car, so the first thing you must do is consult the owner's manual for yours and follow the instructions given in the owner maintenance section.
You should get your antifreeze from a Mazda dealer because the antifreeze contains additives which inhibit corrosion due to different types of metal the coolant is in contact with. The cooling system capacity is about 7.5 liters of which ~55% is antifreeze, so you will need 4 liters of the stuff.
When you flush the system out, don't forget to discard any residual coolant in the overflow reservoir.
Finally, hose off any spilled coolant or it will damage your paintwork.

 

there is a plug in the bottom of the radiator drain the radiator from there into a large bucket that will fit under your car them move it under your engine when done draining and drain the block coolant. Not the oil. the coolant plug.

Then for flushing use clean water and pour it into your radiator until clear water comes out of the radiator drain. remove the coolant hoses off the resivior take it out the resivior and wash it out then re connect it.

Then you can get antifreeze ithier the premixed or straight fluid get brand name don't buy no name you want quailty anti freeze basicly to mix straight antifreeze just grab a 2 L pop bottle rinse it out good and fill 1 L water and 1L antifreeze and do this till your car is full. once it is full start your car you will want to rev it up to about 2500-3000 rpm's for a minute or two and repeat it every couple minutes until you stop seeing bubbles in your resivior coming out this is bleeding the coolant system of any air then when your done just refill the resivior until its full and your done. Don't forget to check for leaks to make sure everything is nice and tight. Then the next couple days just check your coolant level to make sure its still full and hasn't droped to much.