Do I need to drain the coolant to service a Volvo D1-30 heat exhanger?

[windwisher]

The service manual says to drain the Coolant before servicing the heat exchanger. I'm in the middle of nowhere where I cannot get replacement coolant so would prefer not to drain it. Has anyone opened up the heat exchanger without draining the coolant?


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[shakey doug]

If you need to access the coolant side, yes you will need to drain it down to below the exchanger level, the answer is no with reservations if you have to access the raw water side, if the stack seal is maintained which generally only happens in older poorly maintained engines. My advice would be to drain down to below the exchanger level using a clean bucket to collect the coolant any lost coolant volume can be made with potable water without any ill affects until in a position to get the real mc Coy.