This is not the correct way to bleed the cooling system, and is also unsafe and possibly dangerous.Replace the thermostat. Get a solid one from GermanAutoParts. And do a youtube search for Thomas EXOVCDS. He's good. He has a DIY that you will love if you are worried about the labor. I would personally recommend familiarizing yourself with the coolant system on your vehicle, because the plastic flanges are known to fail. Bleed the system via the hole on the heatercore hose that is underneath the battery shroud. The trick to it is, let the car heat up and pull the hose back just far enough so it clears the port in the heatercore, rev motor to 2k and purge the air. Reinstall hose and drive it. Check for leaks and ONLY USE G12 COOLANT!
And in response to this good advice, the correct method is:This is not the correct way to bleed the cooling system, and is also unsafe and possibly dangerous.
Not only that, but after getting scalded, the thing will still have air in the cooling system! Heating up the coolant has no effect on bleeding out the air, while revving the engine just pulls more air in.This is not the correct way to bleed the cooling system, and is also unsafe and possibly dangerous.
Could you please expand on this?And in response to this good advice, the correct method is:
Loosen three screws holding expansion tank. Pull back heater core hose until coolant dribbles out. Remove expansion tank cap and lift tank as high as it'll go. Bleed coolant until a steady stream comes out of bleeder hole. Reverse for installation.
Running it while hot, or with engine running will shoot a stream of coolant into the air. Its not bled properly that way.
Engine needs to be cold, ie off for a couple of hours or so. Then raise the coolant tank (disconnect only its electrical connector) and bleed. Then put back heater hose and the coolant tank and now you can run the engine and check/top up the coolant.Could you please expand on this?
Are you saying let the engine idle for 30 minutes while it warms out and bleeds itself?
A pressurized cooling system raises the coolant's boiling temperature. This is good because the hotter the coolant, the less cylinder heat is lost to the cooling system, and the efficiency of the engine is improved. The radiator and heater cores can be smaller too, but the temperature and pressure have to be low enough for proper lubrication and reliability. So as GLInick points out, the cooling system pressure can reach about 15 psi, but if the pressure is suddenly reduced, some coolant is likely to instantly become steam, causing a dangerous surge of hot coolant from wherever the pressure was released. If you ever have held a cooling system hose while releasing pressure at the reservoir, you'll feel the hose suddenly get hotter. That's due to the latent heat of the coolant being released when it turns from liquid to vapor.The cooling system is under pressure when at full temp. It's not a lot about 15 psi or so, but if it gets depressurized when hot (ie by removing the cap or pulling back the heater hose), the boiling point is reduced and the coolant mixture will bubble vigorously. You don't want that happening when you have an open bleed hole and your hands and face nearby.
I guess I'm missing a fundamental thing that is probably obvious. How can you bleed an engine that is not running if the thermostat hasn't opened to circulate the coolant into the block yet?Do not have the engine running while trying to bleed the system.
