DIY guide - 2014 Opel Corsa D 1.4: Change the coolant 

Thank you very much! 🙂

You’re very welcome! 😊

You're welcome!

Multumesc mult!😀

Thank you! Much appreciated!

Happy to help :)

Thanks a lot!

Many thanks!

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!

You're welcome! Happy to help :)

@@TheMissingBolt Hi I have been toping up my car with tap water every month instead of coolant for the last 3 years now whenever I top up the water it reduces very quickly does this mean it needs a coolant change the car is 10 years old with no service history the coolant may never have been changed

@@huss9629 From what you're describing it sounds to me like you have a leak in the cooling system. Coolant should require top-up only occasionally if everything is well. Do you see puddles of water underneath your car? Does your car appear to be constantly smoking at the back when you're driving?

@@TheMissingBolt No puddles or no smoke the car is 10 years old I dont think the coolant has ever been changed it has just been topped up with water I think the water just dissolves as water boils fast that's why we need to keep topping up with water what do you think?

@@huss9629 If there are no puddles and no smoke when driving, then most likely the water's evaporating due to heat. From what I've seen, coolant temperature on a Corsa D frequently goes over 100 degrees C. In this case yes, adding coolant should 100 % help, since the coolant not only lowers the freezing point, but also raises the boiling point of the mix. Also, coolant has additives for lubricating the water pump and preventing the rust that becomes inevitable if you use just plain water.

You're welcome :)

Thank you very much!

Your car and your wallet will thank you for it! 😀

If it already had a bit of water in do I still need to drain before putting in the ready mixed antifreeze I’ve already bought?

@@MarlySmith You need to check your antifreeze concentration in the system before deciding. If your ready-mixed antifreeze is 50% - 50%, you can skip the draining of whatever is in the system only if (1) it's not old and dirty and (2) if the existing concentration in the system is also 50 % - 50 %. If the coolant is old and / or dirty you should drain it out of principle. Otherwise, you first need to get whatever is in the system to a 50 % - 50 % mix first, by adding either distilled water or concentrated antifreeze progressively.

Thanks! 👍

I'm glad you liked the video. This post should give you more details on the hidden menu: mr-fix.info/opel-corsa-d-hidden-diagnostic-menu/

Ok, that's good to know. Personally I haven't tried this method, I found the standard method of letting the circuit self-bleed sufficient.

The work is done with the ventilation screw??!

Thank you very much!

Hello! I definitely didn't remove the plastic drain plug fully, because I didn't need to. It still has the original o-rings on it. And in the 9 months that have passed since I made the video, I haven't had any coolant leaks, so those o-rings are still doing their job properly.

It's simple, the shield is held in place with 4 bolts, as you can see at 4:05 - 4:20. You have to slide it towards the back, over the existing rear bolts and then tighten all 4. The front bolts came with 2 special nuts as part of the shield's packaging.

¡Hola! Si no tiene una válvula de purga, simplemente llene el refrigerante muy lentamente (para no agregar demasiado aire al sistema), luego conduzca el automóvil normalmente y verifique el nivel de refrigerante después de que el automóvil se haya enfriado. El nivel bajará a medida que se purga automáticamente, por lo que deberás recargarlo en consecuencia. Repita este paso tantas veces como sea necesario hasta que el nivel de refrigerante ya no baje.

Hi! After the cooling system has been completely purged of air, all coolant hoses are full of liquid coolant, so it's normal for them to feel pressurized and harder to squeeze. Also, the entire system is supposed to be air-tight (if there are no leaks), in order to allow it to pressurize as the coolant temperature rises, so as to further increase the coolant's boiling point. So what you've noticed is just normal behavior.

I found this forum post which provides the details: www.ukcorsa-d.com/threads/hidden-menu-info-all-in-one-place.34861/

Thank you very much!

Do you see anything similar to smoke or steam coming out the tailpipe when the engine is running? If you're loosing water but there is no visible leak or puddle underneath the car, then most likely your head gasket has failed and water gets into the cylinders. You can confirm this yourself or at a garage with an endoscopic camera: remove all spark plugs and check the state of each cylinder and piston. If the spark plugs appear very clean at the tip or if the cylinders / pistons show signs of rust, then you 100 % have water entering the combustion chamber.

@@TheMissingBolt thanks, I used some liquid to try fix the head gasket as I was recommend by someone (steel seal). But I also took it to the garage and they said it was a leaking water pump so they fixed that and the car is up and running.

As far as I know, the 1.4 engine has the coolant temperature sensor near the top-right side (as you're looking from inside the car) and higher than the coolant (water) pump. So removing it would not have helped too much with the removal of the coolant from the engine block itself. This engine also does not have a dedicated coolant drain plug at the bottom, as some other engines do. And you're right, if you just do a single coolant change via the radiator drain, you are doing only half the job since you're only removing half the coolant. But I did post another video where I did a full coolant flush on the same car.

@@TheMissingBolt Your right chap

110 F is about 43 C, so maybe you meant 110 C? Personally, I've never reached that high a temperature in our Corsa, but I was monitoring my coolant temperature at some point in the past and noticed that it reached a maximum of about 107 C before dropping down a bit and stabilizing at about 93 - 97 C.

@@TheMissingBolt yeah sorry thats what i meant, hers goes up to 110 then the fan kicks in takes it down until it creeps up again. Apparently according to vauxhall thats correct, what reg is yours?

@@justluke8836 First registration for our Corsa was May 2014, which I think makes it a 14 plate if I'm not mistaken (we don't use the plate system in Romania).

Nope, not at all. It’s been 9 months since the change and the coolant level did not drop. Look at the oil change video from a few weeks ago. The coolant level is spot on and I didn’t have to top it off.

Indeed, I noticed the thermostat beginning to open at 103 using the OBD2 scanner. I thought it's a rather high value, but then again in most modern cars the cooling system runs at a higher temperature and pressure, in the name of greater "efficiency". Whenever I have to change the coolant, I always warm up the car by driving it for a while, a good 10 - 15 minutes after it reaches operating temperature; I never warm it up in-place as it takes too long and causes unnecessary additional engine wear. I've found that this interval is sufficient for the old and new coolants to mix up homogeneously.

​@@TheMissingBolt ​ Regarding operating temperatures, yes it increases efficiency, and it's not some kind of new technology, just look at BMW engines. However these engines have a variety of versions. First of all, Corsa D has 4 1.4 engines: Z14XEP, A14XEL, A14XER and A14NEL. Now we are talking about your 1.4 on a Corsa D so it's gonna be A14XEL or A14XER (it's not possible to identify by this video). These engines have the folowing variants: with twinport and with EGR, without EGR and with twinport, with twinport and withouth EGR (which is most common from 2009 till 2012), without twinport and without EGR (which is the most common from 2012 till 2014) and also there are two types of thermostates which were installed in these engines: electric one (which you basicly have and the majority has, starts opening at 103 degrees at 0V) and the rare - bypass one which opens at 80 degrees at 12V. All of these variants have different ECU software. Now regarding warming up the engine. According to the Opel KTA maintenance document: "Allow engine to warm up at idling speed of up to 2500 rpm until first radiator fan setting switches on" . Basicly you don't have to stand on idle rpms as if you will stay the engine idling for a very long time, it will definitely cause damage due to low efficiency of the oil pump and insufficient lubrication. However, when you standing on 2500 rpm there is less load on the engine compared to 2500 rpm when you're driving and this is a big advantage and this is why it's written like that in manual. But there's also an advantage when you're driving, the engine will warm up a bit faster and one more advantage - under the load the more force will be exerted on the piston rings and pistons under engine load, meaning they will be less prone to skewness. However in the manual it is not written to go 2500 rpm immediately just aftern the engine start, and it's a kind of gap in the ,manual. What I would recommend. If the outside temperature is low, like 0 and etc, start up the engine and warm it up to ECT of 40-50 degrees at 1500 rpm and then rise to 2500 as at temperature of 42 the engine load is decreased enough but it also depends on your oil. Why 1500? If have a Tech2 or Op-COM (Vaux-COM), turn on the ignition and check desired idle value - it will be 1498, this is the algorythm of the ECU to rise rpm to 1498 just after each cold start and then slowly decrease it depending on the temperature. In two words, something like this :)

@@corsik737 Ok, thanks a lot for your detailed explanations and advice! Our engine is an A14XER from 2014, for reference.

@TheMissingBolt Yeah, A14XER was produced in a bigger quantity compared to A14XEL and I also thought that it's A14XER. The difference is just an ECU software so you can distinguish only by the engine marking label (it is located at a juction between the engine block and the gearbox) that is not visible on the video and most likely rusted, by VIN, by certificate of confirmity or other car's docs, by communicating with Corsa with an Op-COM or Tech2 and also by acceleration ⚡️

Good question 😀 I don't remember exactly how I removed that clip, but I definitely didn't have any special tools at that time. It's possible that I used a pipe wrench because of its large opening.

@@TheMissingBolt thanks for your answer. and thanks for the video 😊

How are you driving without coolant? Are you using just plain water?

That's somewhat similar to the coolant cleaning solution I've used in the flushing video. Though from my experience so far, I doubt these solution make any positive difference.

I don't know of any inherent thermostat problems on the Corsa D. What symptoms are you experiencing?

@@TheMissingBolt thermostat stay open, and when I taken it to mechanecian he change temperature sensor, then the thermostat stay open now

​ What is the age of your current thermostat? If the thermostat is old, maybe it's just time to have it replaced.

@@TheMissingBolt it is 3 years, but I change it and the problem staying

@@rabahboub7572 Do you have any error lights on the dashboard? Did you check the car with an OBD2 diagnostic tool? Maybe there are some codes stored that may point you in the right direction...

Not sure what you mean. When you drain the coolant, you're definitely introducing air into the system (it takes the place of the old coolant). When you pour the new coolant, air pockets inevitably get formed inside. But once you start the engine and squeeze the pipes as I showed, the air is eventually bled out. It may take a few hours of driving to bleed out the entire amount of air, that's why is a good idea to check the coolant level for several days after you've replaced it.

@@TheMissingBolt yes I had wanted ask it. Thanks for replied.

Здравейте. Да, все още имаме колата. Ще сменям съединителя и после искаме да го продадем.

True, but the pointer is supposed to have a small weight at the bottom, such that it is kept upright when enough coolant is inside. Mine didn't have that weight (it had detached from the pointer), which meant the pointer couldn't be kept vertical no matter what I did. So I just did my best to keep the entire tester as vertical as I could.

Multumesc mult! Da, asa este, am verificat si eu recent ca nu exista nicio valva de oprire a lichidului de racire prin radiatorul din habitaclu. Dar la momentul in care am facut filmul nu verificasem asta si am considerat ca e mai bine sa merg pe varianta sigura - aceea de a porni caldura la maxim chiar daca era posibil ca asta sa nu aiba efect in inlocuirea lichidului de racire.

Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français.

Je ne comprends pas la question.