for petex19 -- Alternative Radiator bleeding

[steve]

Pete -- being very old, I only have long-term memory left. It occurred to me that way back in the 1980's, my Fiat mechanic (working on my '76 X1/9) told me that the radiator could be "bled" by filling the coolant; park on a downward slope (front lower than rear so middle of expansion tank is higher than top of radiator); leave the expansion tank cap off; run to full operating temperature for about 45 minutes to let all the air escape out of the expansion tank; put the cap back on and you're good to go.
I've never done it!
I don't know if it works.
Perhaps Bernice or Tony or Bob or one of the experts would care to comment.
Steve

 

[bbrown]

Well Steve, not exactly...

Maybe tilting the car downward for a while and running it with the cap off helps, but I wouldn't do it for more than (say) 10 minutes or so because the coolant will eventually start boiling out.

The system is designed to run under pressure, so boiling will likely occur at intermittent intervals while the thermostat does it's thing.

For me, I'd watch it (as stated above) for just long enough to see a good solid return coolant flow, then (stop the engine) fill it to 3/4th full (leaving the cap off) and open the bleed screw atop the radiator (in front) with the car tilted slightly higher on the left side. (the car sitting level and jacked up on the driver's side to make the radiator bleed screw the highest point) Then I'd loosen it until it bleeds a little anti-freeze out, then tighten it up again.

In my experience, this works well but I've had to repeat the procedure after about 50 miles to insure all the air is out. Seems effective.

Tony has a procedure where he inserts an inexpensive flush "T" in the heater hose and does his magic from there. Maybe he can chime in with that one. He's described it as a pretty easy procedure. Still, I believe you'll need to loosen the relief valve on the radiator if you want to get all the air out.

My :2c:

 

[petex19]

Thanks for thinking about me....

I re-alligned my rad today so that the bleed screw was accessible and I crossed my fingers and with my 8mm hex wrench I was able to open the bleed screw. So once I replace my coolant bottle which arrives tomorrow I will be able to bleed the rad. Should it be done with the car level on the ground or as some have described slightly raising the drivers side of the car so that the bleed screw is at the highest point.

Any thoughts on this?

'PeteX1/9

 

[EricH]

I've tried a bunch of different ways...

I've tried a bunch of different ways, including the flush tee, and finally came back to what Bob describes: open reservoir cap, open bleeder at radiator, add water to reservoir until it starts to come out of the bleeder, button up the bleeder and then the reservoir, and drive the car. Repeat once in a few days to get the rest of the air out. If you listen carefully, you can even hear the air hissing out through the bleeder as the water level rises in the radiator.

The only tricks are:
1) Open the reservoir before the bleeder. Close the bleeder before the reservoir. That ensures that you won't accidentally let the bleeder suck air back in.
2) Don't let the reservoir run empty, or more air will enter the system. Nothing awful happens, it just ends up in radiator after a few days and you have to bleed again.

The flush tee does have one advantage when you're flushing, as opposed to just filling or bleeding. When you hook up that hose and turn it on full blast, you KNOW that you're washing all the crud out of the system.

 

[EricH]

Level is fine, or left slide lifted a bit.

nt

 

[DazUK]

Bleed

The best way I found was to just to run the motor untill hot (or from a drive) .. leave everything closed including the expansion tank, then slowly undo the radiator bleed valve. With the pressure in the system, the air is quickly expelled. Top up tank...job done.

 

[Jim Young]

To make sure it's bleed.

I watch under the car till coulant drips down in the rad area I also keep the left sie up so the air goes to that corner.

 

[haywood j]

I use the flush tee method

http://www.network54.com/Forum/12159/message/1130909312/Prestone+Flush+Tee+Install
Also known as the getting all the air out of your coolant system for dummies method :rolleyes2:

always worked for me, I have verified by checking the bleeder and have never gotten any air.

some will raise the rear to help get the air out of the system.
Revving the engine up when the t-stat is open to get the pump to build up pressure to force the air out of the system to that higher point as original poster stated "bottle higher than top of rad".

 

[Rupunzell]

+1

This is basically the way to bleed the cooling system..

Only thing I might be doing differnt would be to open the bleed fitting on the radiator while filling the cooling system. The rest is as Bob noted..

Do bleed the cooling system again after running the car for about an hour, 50 miles or similar short distance. There is likely going to be some residual air after the cooling system has been re-filled and run.


:dance2:
Bernice

Maybe tilting the car downward for a while and running it with the cap off helps, but I wouldn't do it for more than (say) 10 minutes or so because the coolant will eventually start boiling out.

The system is designed to run under pressure, so boiling will likely occur at intermittent intervals while the thermostat does it's thing.

For me, I'd watch it (as stated above) for just long enough to see a good solid return coolant flow, then (stop the engine) fill it to 3/4th full (leaving the cap off) and open the bleed screw atop the radiator (in front) with the car tilted slightly higher on the left side. (the car sitting level and jacked up on the driver's side to make the radiator bleed screw the highest point) Then I'd loosen it until it bleeds a little anti-freeze out, then tighten it up again.

In my experience, this works well but I've had to repeat the procedure after about 50 miles to insure all the air is out. Seems effective.

Tony has a procedure where he inserts an inexpensive flush "T" in the heater hose and does his magic from there. Maybe he can chime in with that one. He's described it as a pretty easy procedure. Still, I believe you'll need to loosen the relief valve on the radiator if you want to get all the air out.

My :2c:

 

[Black-Tooth]

OK... How 'bout SUCKING IT OUT???

For crying out loud...

Here's another idea for all you rocket scientists... Use a Pressure Tester from Harbor Freight (about 80 bucks) and pressurize the system... then open your bleeder and purge out all the air!

HA!

Like I said... I've never touched my bleeder for fear of it breaking or not resealing after 31 years... so what would I know about bleeding. The pressure purge method using a flush tee has worked well for me and I run no hotter than 185 in LA-LA-LAND...

Have fun...