Coolant Change on 2018 GT w/ 3.0L V-6
I could not find much information online for this service, so I wanted to share my experience changing the coolant on a 2018 Outlander V-6 to take some of the mystery out of this procedure. Overall I was able to drain b/t 6-7 qts of a 10-qt system (more on this later). I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I do want to mention some tips I found useful.
I skipped the torque ratchet and instead used torque stripes, marking plugs and surfaces with a white paint marker. This was the surest way to know plugs were tightened appropriately. I found ratchet clearance was too tight to effectively use one anyway.
Jacking up the front wheels enabled better access to all plugs. That said, I did drain the radiator w/ the car level and only jacked up the front wheels to remove the front engine bank drain plug for the block coolant jacket.
Filling w/ a burping-style funnel is very important. Using this funnel (took the place of the radiator cap) I was able to add another 1/2 qt or so which is b/c there was so much air in the system. I spent a good 45 mins w/ the funnel attached, engine running, and periodic revving of the engine to 3,000 RPM. You can really see the bubbles escape at this engine speed.
Finally, I did not have a socket large enough for the rear bank coolant drain plug. I tried a 24mm socket, but it was too small. Also, access is very limited, even w/ the front passenger-side wheel removed. In the end I did not drain the rear bank.
Oh, and a large catch is very, very important. The reason I wrote 6-7 qts were drained is b/c of spillage. This was especially true of the front bank coolant jacket - when the plug was fully removed, it pretty much went everywhere.
Anyway, on to the pictures...
I skipped the torque ratchet and instead used torque stripes, marking plugs and surfaces with a white paint marker. This was the surest way to know plugs were tightened appropriately. I found ratchet clearance was too tight to effectively use one anyway.
Jacking up the front wheels enabled better access to all plugs. That said, I did drain the radiator w/ the car level and only jacked up the front wheels to remove the front engine bank drain plug for the block coolant jacket.
Filling w/ a burping-style funnel is very important. Using this funnel (took the place of the radiator cap) I was able to add another 1/2 qt or so which is b/c there was so much air in the system. I spent a good 45 mins w/ the funnel attached, engine running, and periodic revving of the engine to 3,000 RPM. You can really see the bubbles escape at this engine speed.
Finally, I did not have a socket large enough for the rear bank coolant drain plug. I tried a 24mm socket, but it was too small. Also, access is very limited, even w/ the front passenger-side wheel removed. In the end I did not drain the rear bank.
Oh, and a large catch is very, very important. The reason I wrote 6-7 qts were drained is b/c of spillage. This was especially true of the front bank coolant jacket - when the plug was fully removed, it pretty much went everywhere.
Anyway, on to the pictures...
