582 cooling system

[Sad-Ham]

Anyone got any advice on this?

What is the best way to flush out a 582's cooling system and what is the correct ratio of anti-freeze/water to refill it with?

[John Young]

Hi Sad-Ham,

This is how I drain, flush and refill the cooling system on my 582 Aquilla once a year.

1. Remove bottom hose from radiator and drain into a bucket. Bend bottom hose down and have someone lift the front wheel of the trike to get last 200ml.

2. Replace bottom hose (loosely), fill cooling system with clean water – approx 3 litres and run engine for under 1 minute.

3. Repeat step No. 1 and drain again.

4. Refit bottom hose and tighten and fill cooling system with a 50/50 mix of cooling inhibitor (anti-freeze) and water. Solo Wings sell it premixed.

5. Run engine up to normal operating temperature, switch off and let engine cool for a few minutes and check coolant level – top up as necessary. You may have to top up a few times during the next pre-flight routines.

Tips and suggestions: -

a. The term anti-freeze is a misnomer. Yes, it does reduce the freezing point by a few degrees, but its primary purpose is to serve as a cooling inhibitor (conditioner) preventing corrosion.

b. The cooling inhibitor (anti-freeze) is toxic – dispose of the drained fluid where you never want to see grass / growth.

c. Be sure to clean all parts of the trike where the drained fluid has made contact – it is highly corrosive.

d. Don’t forget to drain and flush the expansion bottle as well.

Good luck!!

Regards
John ZU-CIB

[Duck Rogers]

I know Johnnie Boy was waiting for me to comment :D

I can't comment on the flushing procedure that John uses but it sounds fine to me. What I can comment on is the "antifreeze"

Make sure you get something that contains a high percentage (90% or more) of Mono-glycol. Stay very far away from anything that's labelled Polyester-glycol. Rubbish stuff with low lubricating properties, that.

Next, use only distilled water (you knew that, right?) and mix to a ratio of 30/70. That is 30% antifreeze and 70% distilled water. You do not need a mix of 50/50 in South Africa's warm climate and in any event, believe it or not, you may even increase your engine's operating temp. by adding too much antifreeze

[Sad-Ham]

Thanks for the advice guys. Will get all the stuff on saturday morning and give it a go.

[Turbo_Boss]

Hey Guys,

My 582 use 3 small radiators. 2 are located on each side of the 582 and the other small one is under.

Just curious, do you know what is more/less the capacity in gallons or litres of the full system?

THX

Isaac

[John Boucher]

Easy ....

Do the flush thing into a known bucket volume and record it in your aircraft logbook!

I know that is not what you wanted to hear but each type of aircraft may have a slightly different volume per setup - more/less radiators, shorter/longer coolant hoses etc.

Just had to say something...

[Duck Rogers]

Easy ....

Do the flush thing into a known bucket volume and record it in your aircraft logbook!

I know that is not what you wanted to hear but each type of aircraft may have a slightly different volume per setup - more/less radiators, shorter/longer coolant hoses etc.

Just had to say something...

You said well........