Lada Niva Manual - Maintenance
Page 8
Every three years or every 60,000 Km (whichever comes
first), flush the cooling system and fill it with fresh coolant.
Fig 39. Cooling system drain holes.
1- drain hole
in radiator bottom, 2- drain hole in cylinder block.
Drain coolant from the system through two drain holes 1 and
2 (Fig. 39), one of which is located in the radiator bottom tank
and the other one in the cylinder block at the left side. In
doing so shift the heater cock control lever to the right most
position.
For screwing the radiator drain hole plug in or out, use two wrenches; one to keep in place
the plug union soldered into the radiator tank, and the other to screw the plug in or out. After
draining the coolant completely from the system through the above holes, remove the coolant
remaining in the expansion tank and hose connecting the tank to the radiator by disconnecting
the hose from the expansion tank or by raising the tank proper to a required height.
To flush the cooling system, proceed as follows.
•
Fill the system with clean water, start the engine and run it until the bottom tank of the
radiator gets warmed and, with the engine idling, drain water through the radiator and
cylinder block drain holes.
•
Let the engine cool down, refill the system with clean water and repeat the above
operation.
After the flushing pour coolant into the cooling system. If the coolant of the specified grade
is not avail- able, it is permissible (at ambient temperatures above zero) to use clean water, as
soft as possible to avoid heavy scale deposition which leads to engine overheating under
normal operating conditions. When using hard water, flush the cooling system twice a year
with special descaling agents.
If an aluminium radiator is in- stalled in the car do not use water in the cooling system as
water affects corrosion resistance of the radiator.
Cooling System Thermostat
Fig 40. Checking tension of Alternator
drive belt.
1- nut, 2- nut of alternator joint
pin, 3- alternator, 4- thermostat, 5- water
pump, A- belt deflection.
Every 20.000 Km and also in case of abnormal temperature
of the engine (overheating under normal operating conditions
or excessively long warm-up period after starting), check
thermostat 4 (Fig. 40) for normal functioning. A simple check
is the hand- feeling of the thermostat directly on the car.
Upon starting the cold engine with the thermostat service-
able, the bottom tank of the radiator starts getting warm as
soon as the coolant temperature is 80-85 "C.
Alternator Drive Belt
Every 10.000 Km (and after the first 2,000-3,000 Km if the car is new), check the belt for
tension. Normal deflection A (Fig. 40) is 10-15 mm if a force of 100 N (10 kg) is applied.
To increase the belt tension, proceed as follows.
•
Loosen nut 1 that fastens the alternator to the adjusting arm.
•
Loosen nut 2 of the alternator joint pin.
•
Shift alternator 3 away from the engine and tighten the fastening nuts.
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