when i used to work in a motor factors many moons ago we used to sell coolant checkers to garages ,

so a normal garage , non renault, could check the efficiency of your antifreeze thats in your car and advise if it needs replacement. its a very simple and quick check, they just suck some coolant up the tube from the expansion tank and there is a coloured scale on it and can tell if the coolant is still protecting your car as it should . depending on your local garage they might even drain/suck it all out and replace it for you. its nothing out of the ordinary coolant , uses the same as petrol and diesel cars and have heard of non-main dealers doing it and not locking out the high voltage system - mind you if you take it to a place like halfords they most probably say "we can touch any electric vehicles, its against company policy to work on EV's" so you want to find an independent garage that will do it for you.

Now, I hope you are talking of Coolant , and not A/C refrigerant replacement because that is totally different kettle of fish. That's got to be specialist refrigerant and with non conductive lubricating oil for the electric compressor of the car.

 

Thank you for your help. Yes it is the coolant. I will speak to my local garage.

 

I can offer the solution I did on my Ampera. Take it as something to consider, and decide for yourself.

Suck out what you can out of the header tanks and replace that little bit. Do that every month or two.

After a while, you'll have diluted the old with new to not far off a full change, because fluid changes never get all of the old stuff out, so it is always a 'downward mixing'.

It actually keeps the fluid in better condition, once it reaches an equilibrium of old/new ratios, because it remains more stable.

This works particularly well for coolants (less so oils) because the active ingredients in the coolants do not need to be held at 100% perfect level to work, you just need to add more of the active anti-corrosion components to re-enable its properties.

They contain inorganic, or increasingly, organic salts that will hold engine contaminations in a soluble form, but as you can imagine there is only so much of those salts and once it is all bound up with the contaminations, then it stops working. So, take a bit of that 'not working' coolant out and replace it with some that does.

In theory, and because you never actually 'break open' the whole system, a compatible coolant will eventually totally clean out the internals of whatever circuit it is cleaning up, and there just won't be any more contaminations being generated ... IF it is a compatible coolant (few are 'totally' compatible).

I'm actually modestly surprised that BEVs don't use oil as coolants than water. I mean, pay me money for my reliability engineer qualifications and I'll take it off you and recommend designing the coolant system with a low viscosity oil. Water is used because it is cheap and easy to replace, super high heat capacity to deal with heat-wasting ICE engines. Neither apply for BEVs. A 2.5w oil*, filled for 'life'. No corrosion. No risk of electrical problems. Lubricates those electric pumps and valves. To use water based coolants looks positively dumb to me ....... anyway, I digress .. consider small replacements you can do yourself, but lots of them.

 

Suck out what you can out of the header tanks and replace that little bit. Do that every month or two.

You can do the same with power steering fluid, quicker too, as the usual process is painful.

 

Take it elsewhere. Do the gearbox oil.

 

Ask Cleevely Motors at Cheltenham if that is close enough for you. I asked about coolant change and they said 'Every time your car has come in (3rd year in a row now) we have sampled and tested the coolant and it's fine. We know when the coolant needs to be changed. It is barely used compared to the function of the coolant in an ICE.'

They have done lots of other recommended changes, the last one being the regas and test for £125+vat.

If you are concerned about meeting the requirements of a warranty then that normally asks that the car has been serviced at the correct intervals by a reputable garage.

Have a conversation with them. They are highly recommended.

 

If the work on the car doesn't involve any of the HV electrics then it's just a non-EV tyoe car although I would be interested to hear about any variation on that.

My nearby garage run by an older and experienced mechanic made the point above because you don't have to have EV training to carry out an MOT on an EV. He said if it failed any of the normal mechanical components then he would replace them as if it was an ICE.

With EVs there are some limits though. To replace the brake fluid on the Zoe you need to get the car to work with the mechanic so he plugs in a terminal and the progam instructs them what to do and the car pumps the fluid at the appropriate time.

Another local garage run by a much younger man point blank refused to do any work on my car and very curtly said 'We don't have the insurance to work on EVs' (even for an MOT) and almost threw me out the garage. And yet most garages will do an MOT on one.

My thoughts are that you don't have to isolate and 'kill' the car to work on the all the parts not associated with the HV battery. After all you are still allowed to open the bonnet and delve into the interior without donning thick rubber gloves (well - you still might want to do that for other reasons) but you would be stupid to start messing around with anything that was bright orange. All EVs have a battery isolation switch as well.

 

My 5 year service is booked in at local HEV garage. I asked about fluid change. He said they test fluid first, highly unlikely will need replacing. If there is a shortage of fluid then there is something else of major importance wrong.
I asked about 12v battery. He said they test and only replace if nedessary. I told him that I would want a new one because of odd electrical issues.
He also mentioned that the problems he most frequently sees are charging issues. He uses something to test and "get you home" if needed.

 

Drive unit reduction gear oil change is 6 years or 50,000 miles which ever is earlier.

 

Do it on 20k intervals.

 

I did change the coolant at 5 years. As a coolant it has almost "forever" propertys. But all the corrosion inhibitors have limited lifespan, and that is the main reason to change coolant. Partly exchange do not work.on Zoe as almost none coolant is going to the tank (it never gets close or above 100C). But the procedure requires a vacuum exchange methode or all cooling points (electronics) will never be cooled... If you already have a compressor the needed gear is about 90€. ONLY use renault own coolant as that is "known" to have the correct inhibitors and destilled water. Nothing involved requers disconnecting the high-voltage battery. But the car should have been turned off for at least 10 min.

Brake fluid replacement also needs special equipment to actually replacing all the brake fluid within all parts of the ABS system. You must get an over-pressure tank (less than 100€). The tank must be above 2.5 BAR during replacement at all time. With that over-pressure tank replacement of brake fluid is so easy, I wish I would have got one 40 years ago... Common DOT 4 brake fluid and nothing else.

Battery replacement is fiddly but anybody can do it them self. Just normal precautions. And do exchange it at the adviced 5 year intervals "just in case". I did so and I have proper test equipment and have checked it a few times every year. But the issues when it starts to fail is awful...
It is a "standard" battery size that can be ordered from proper battery shops (I first orderd mine from an Amazon seller, but they never deliverd). It cost about 150€, the one that is in the Zoe is just a common battery that has an Renault sticker on it...

I have so far done it on 3 Zoes it takes about 1h totaly if properly prepared and everything is ready.

I have not changed the reduction gear oil yet. But I am considering to do it. Our cars have both done about 190,000 km now and are 6 ZE40 and 5 ZE50 years old.

Both needed new motors last year, so they was replaced at 173,000 km (extended mechnic insurance 740€ deducted). This due to the rather common motor bearing EDM issue (bad design from Renault).

So with all above. Can anybody see any valid reason for a car service station to be "troublesome" about doing the work or for ridiculous high price to do it...

 

I was having a quick read the other day of Propylene glycol that can be used for cars coolant system instead of normal toxic ethylene glycol . its food grade and has better corrosion protection than ethylene glycol and is odourless, costs more than ethylene glycol antifreeze coolant.

 

I would never use ANYTHING other than the OEM coolant from the car manufacturer.
Not even with a written certification from the coolant manufacturer that it is the same or a better product than the OEM stuff.
All the different metals that are cooling the electronics and seals could be a huge problem if they start to corrode in any way. And the Zoe coolant pump is rather special as it also contains a puls counter, so having to replace it is >>750€ in parts only (not that much work but...).

But for my old cars, anything that is better for the environment than ethylene glycol is something to strive for. But never in an EV. Any corrosion residue in the coolers for the electronics would be a death sentence for that electronic module...
So the coolant in EVs. Stick to the OEM stuff and avoid issues (the Zoe needs less than a liter of concentrate for a full replacement).