0jiggy0

iTrader: (13)

I believe in the video you said heats on high but its still coming out cold. That along with the knocking from the radiator still has me believing you have air trapped in the system. What i did was jack up the right side of the car by the bleeder screw and made that the highest point.

DrJH

It doesn't seem to be involved directly in your problem, I would offer up the water pump as a possible problem in the future. It's plastic just like your radiator. My radiator just cracked on top like yours last month with 125K on my 2005. After the replacement, the car would run fine for 10 minutes and then overheat. Of course, now that I know that the impeller was broken, it's obvious why it was overheating. I just hadn't had experience with "plastic" before. Went through all the bleeding before I gave up and brought it to a shop who wanted $3200 for a blown head gasket. Unfortunately for them, I had owned a Peugeot with a blown gasket and knew the symptoms and my Z didn't have any of them. My tire guy told me about the water pump and that was it. Good luck.

phreaktor

iTrader: (22)

^That is my next course of action. I broke the purge valve and I can't find a part number or name for it. Does anyone know it?

Edit found it finally:

http://www.courtesyparts.com/350z-pa...5_751_772.html

biscuitownz

The water pumps on the Zs aren't plastic..

Anyway, when I did my coolant change on my z I also had the cold air problem with the heater on max, but once I revved it, it was hot. What I did was make sure the overflow tank had coolant in it, close the radiator cap. Rev the car up to 3k rpms, hold for 10 seconds or so, then let off and let it idle for a few seconds, shut the car off, open the bleeder valve slowly until coolant comes out, then close. After that I let the car sit for about 5 minutes, then I opened the radiator cap and topped it off with coolant. I had to repeat this whole process like 3 times or so for it to completely bleed out. I was pretty nervous at one point because I've read stories about it being extremely difficult to bleed the Zs, and at one point my temp gauge was a bit over the halfway point, so that added to the frustration.

Almost forgot, after doing that process around 3 times, I was able to get hot air at idle. But, I still had to top off the overflow tank for the coolant everyday for a few days after that. Since there will still be some air in the system, after a few days it should be all gone.

phreaktor

iTrader: (22)

^That's reassuring. Just waiting on the bleeder valve to get here. Its out of stock everywhere. My overflow tank has a hole in it at the top. Not where fluid can spill out, but does that make a difference?

DmanG281

iTrader: (3)

Ok, so the Z has an overflow style cooling system. Where-in the water will spill into the reservoir occasionally. So when you put the Lisle funnel in you bypass this overflow and the water level will rise until it spills over. As we all know, water expands as it heats up and creates pressure. Case in point. Putting the Lisle funnel will also not allow the tstat to open effectively without overflowing the funnel, keep that in mind as it does play a part in reasoning a solution.

First things first. Jack the car up when bleeding the heater core. when you start the car listen for running water. That's your air bubble. Follow the steps you outlined of start car rev to 3k and wait for heat. No heat then bleed the heater core. Also with a new radiator you may have some air pockets so filling may be necessary.

I recently went through all of this and also stripped my bleeder valve, thanks for finding the part number! Luckily I stripped it the very last time I bled it. Bleeding the cooling system in the car is a practice in patience. Good luck. Feel free to pm me and I can give you my number. I literally spent 3 weeks trying to figure my issue out and it ended up being the tstat. I changed hoses, checked compression whole 9. Even after all of that I still had to bleed the system correctly for everything to return to stasis

phreaktor

iTrader: (22)

Wait, what do you mean having the funnel in won't let the tstat open?

Edit- Tip: Wear safety goggles when working like this. I almost blinded myself when a spring-loaded hose clamp slipped out of the pliers and hit me square in the eye HARD. Saw nothing but white for a couple seconds and I was freaking out. It went back to normal but if it had been 1/4 inch higher Id could have been blinded

DmanG281

iTrader: (3)

Edited. When the tstat opened the funnel always seemed to overflow and cause more issues. I ended up using the funnel to get it to 90% then closed it up and bled through the heater.

phreaktor

iTrader: (22)

I think we are in business. I did the purge procedure three times went for a 15 minute drive with no issues. Heat is warm at idle and hot under throttle. I'm going to leave it overnight and check te level in the am. Thanks for th help guys. I hope this is it.

phreaktor

iTrader: (22)

Back to this **** again. According to a FEMALE mechanic I know, its the fact that I have a massive hole in my coolant bottle. I desperate need of one for about $40 if someone has one.

EDIT: Wasn't the coolant bottle. Checking thermostat again tomorrow. If it's not that I'm doing a water pump.

phreaktor

iTrader: (22)

Overheating came back and was very consistent with the time it took to overheat. I had replaced the thermostat last time I posted even though the OEM showed to be good during the boil test. Tried bleeding again, thought it was a slow HG leak or water pump and nothing worked. Finally I decided to pull the T-stat and check it even though its NEW and it is BAD. Put my OEM back in and the car is running perfect. DO NOT BUY AFTERMARKET THERMOSTATS. It failed within a couple months!

0jiggy0

iTrader: (13)

China ****, i deal with that **** all the time. Makes you feel so much better that you figured it out on your own though.