bleeding air from cooling system
 

I just decided to replaced coolant, thermostat and upper and lower radiator hoses. I'm now trying to refill the cooling system and its only taking about a gallon and a half. I have removed the bleed valve, cap whatever from the heater hose. No coolant is in the hoses and the radiator is full. Any suggestions?

if looking at the car from front, on your back left closer to the firewall behind and to the left of the upper plenum is the heater hoses, if you look theres a plastic screw aka relief valve. tied into the hoses.

when i do this i usually fill her up, til ti wont take no more. turn the car on with heat full blast. wait for the bubbles to stop

First off, you probably didn't drain out much more that 1½ gallons, so that's all that's going back in.

Check out the bleeding instructions at the bottom of this page...
http://crackaddict.com/~flynn/howtos...amco.howto.htm

well I drained the radiator, cleaned the tank, and drained the block from the driverside. I had the heater full on before draining. In all I think I pulled over 2 gallons. I believe the capacity is somewhere around there. I did bleed the air from the heater hose but still I have under 2 gallons in. I know its not right because the heat blows cold at idle.

I'm having this problem and its driving me crazy. ICE COLD AIR, I bleed the system, I cant fit anymore antifreeze. I changed the thermostat. WTF?!

Guys is there anything else I'm missing here. I cant tell you how annoying this is.

I just did this last week, and do what Mcutali said.

Richard

yellowandfast@aol.com

I did that and still have cold air. Really annoying it's ice cold air, colder then outside. WTF?!

Going to try flushing and then bleeding... I ended up stripping the bleed valve, so I'm not sure how ill unscrew the thing now.

I no longer have the bleeder valve or heat due to a dedicated track/toy car now

two things you can try:

1. Jack front of car up and take off radiator cap, place a decent size funnel down the neck of the radiator and then run the car, you will see air coming out of the funnel, sometimes the fluid level will drop while the car is running and you can top it off, I just let it cool down and then top it off.

2. Just bought it, haven't tried it yet, figured being my track toy, this might be the easiest route
http://www.uview.com/ProductDetail.p...tNumber=550000

^Thanks, I'll try that, thanks.

+1 on the funnel thing...I wrap some electrical tape around the funnel tip to get it nice and tight and just run it. When the thermosat opens you'll know it by the fluid level dropping significantly and the radiator fans turning on. Let it go through a few opening cycles until the bubbles are gone. You can rev it too but just realize that most of the bubbles you are getting when you rev it are from the fluid turbulence coming from the water pump and not actually air bubbles.

I have a similar issue, replaced oem with a 52mm AMS radiator. I followed the procedures as described from this:

http://crackaddict.com/~flynn/howtos...amco.howto.htm

No matter what I tried I could not get fluid out of the bleed valve b4 I overfill my radiator. Does the car HAVE to be tilted? Right now my car is level on 4 jack stands, could that be my problem?

Thanks for the help!

anyone?

Putting the front end at a higher angle always helps.

I turn on my heater to full blast while keeping the RPM steady too then shut it off and slowly vent the cap. Having the cap at the highest point helps with getting the air out.

I searched and I found my answer on many different posts. Thanks! I figured this thread was as good as any to post my results.

I replaced my thermostat on my 2003 Z. The original thermostat clearly failed the stovetop test. I had the old one and new one in the same pot on the stove. It was easy to see the new one opening and the old one doing nothing. It was a pretty quick replacement which resulted in a complete pain in the ass with the air bubble problem.

I did all the tricks mentioned. The only additional thing I did was get a tiny tipped funnel and very slowly poured fluid into the bleeder valve hole on the heater hose. That allowed me to get a bit more fluid into that heater hose that comes up to a higher elevation than the radiator cap when the car is sitting flat.

As someone mentioned, the system does seem to work itself out if you let it and dont destroy your motor first. I went through probably 5 heat up / cooldown cycles adding fluid to the radiator neck and overflow tank, doing the bleeder, elevating the front of the car, etc, etc, each time it would suck just a bit more from the overflow tank on cooldown. Finally it stabilized and seems to be cooling fine without me putting anymore coolant in.

Wow what a pain in the ass all that was!

What a fkn nightmare man. After finally getting my heat working correctly bleeding the system for 2 hours...

I took the car last week to get an inspection at the dealer. Well they decided to top off the antifreeze, causing more air to get into system. I lost my heat completely now and my car over heated when I did turn on heat.

Pulled over as soon as needle rised and knew immediately what it was. However when opening the bleeder valve with that much pressure the thing blew. I have no idea where the cap is now, and my car is stuck on the side of the road. Very aggravating to say the least.

Is this bleeder valve cap something i can pick up at a local auto parts store?

Anyone know were I can get a new bleeder screw? My car is stuck on the side of the road rite now because of this crap. :(

When i run the car with the bleeder valve open, do i keep the radiator cap on or off?

When i run the car with rad. cap open, do i need the bleeder open?

Sounds like the same question but i just wanna make sure i dont waste 2-3hrs trying to bleed air and do it the wrong way.

Also, i was told there may be a clog in the heater core because im hearing gurgling sound. Is that air circulating the heater core or is that coolant spraying into overflow?

Never did bleeding coolant system on 350z but this step might be crucial:
"Fill radiator and reservoir tank to specified level. Pour engine coolant through engine coolant filler neck slowly of less than 2 quarts a minute to allow air in system to escape."

Source

Go away air!!!
 

I changed my radiator hoses and thermostat. I've been bleeding the system with a lesli funnel. It seems to get the majority of the air out, but the low fan keeps coming on with light driving. I keep trying to bleed it, and I seem to barely get any air out now. I've bled it several times. I've revved it to 3k rmps for ten seconds three times multiple times both with the lesli funnel attached and without and letting it cool. Each time I mess with it I seem to get air out. I'm about to say screw it and take it to the stealership for the first time since I've owned it. I've managed to do the maintenance thus far. I'm a little shocked at how hard it is to get this cooling system to cooperate. Any suggestions????

I've tried the revving, jacking it up, the lesli funnel. It's absorbed much time. I do believe its air because the fans were going on high at the beginning of this whole bleeding nightmare. Anyone have suggestions? I haven't tried the tiny tip funnel at the bleeder, but I have heat, and I can get fluid out of the bleeder if I open it and squeeze the upper rad hose. I'm at my wits end with this!

Maybe this is common knowledge that I just don't have....BUT.....how long to you guys cycle with the funnel??

I can tell once my T-stat opens.....but maybe five minutes after that coolants starts boiling/shooting all over hell.

I expect the expansion of the coolant but having a hard time finding right point to cycle as much air out as possible.

Thanks

Having this EXACT SAME issue right now!

not sure I have 100% fixed mine either...HATE this F'in coolant system.

I'm thinking the best you can do is alternate between

1) opening the bleeder valve towards the rear of the car

2) squeeze radiator hoses

3) turning the heater on high to get the coolant flowing through the heater core (I couldn't even tell what a heater core looks like :mad:)

4) park on a slight incline and fill the radiator SLOW AS PHUCK!!!!!!

5) use the spill free leslie funnel

6) Rig up a larger coolant overflow container so that when the fluid expands (being hot) there is enough fluid so that the system doesn't inhale air as it cools.

I smell that sickeningly sweet antifreeze in my sleep. :suicide:

I'm going to try that, one more time. If that doesn't work this thing is gonna be parked until I've got an LS motor to go in it......****'s ridiculous.

Lol..... Yea PHUCK that VQ you'll show it!!!

What is going on with the cooling system!!! WTF!?!?!?
I ve been at it all day now and i am about to lose my ****!!!
I tried it all!!! i think I went through maybe 10 jugs of water my parking lot is flooded, and I am pretty sure I dont have that much of antifreeze in the rad now and its freezing here overnight.

Okay so i tried the super funnel & uphill park with rad cap off & bleeder screw, but 2 min after thermostat opens theres a turbulant shitstorm of coolant shooting all over . When is it the best time to turn off the car and let it cool?
Some videos on youtube have the leslie funnel system and they run their cars for 10 minutes. This doesnt happen in my case. I tried running it for 10 minutes once and I had to stay 10 feet from my car so i dont get splashed, and that was just at idle.

I am at the end of the road with this. I even replaced the thermostat.
Any new ideas are much apriciated

Where is the coolant shooting out from? What all have you actually done so far?
I flushed my system two weeks ago, didn't really have any problems.

I didn't use the funnel trick or the uphill trick or any trick, I just followed the factory service manual.

Flushed the system 6-8 times until my flushes started clearing up. Filled with concentrate since my block was filled with distilled water already. Drove the car for 10 minutes around 3k rpm to ensure thermostat opened and system fully circulated. Let car cool down overnight. In the AM, opened bleeder cap at the back of engine, topped off radiator until coolant coming out of bleeder. Then topped off reservoir tank back up to max line.
FSM states that the driving, cooling, then topping off steps can take 3+ times. It took me 4 times (4 days) until my reservoir tank finally stopped dropping overnight.

That coolant shooting everywhere out of the Leslie funnel happened to me too a few times. Mine turned out to be a T stat. Did u use an OEM one?

I squeezed every damn hose at least a dozen times while slowly filling with coolant. If you notic there is a perfect place for an air pocket right underneath the t stat. I put on gloves and squeezed trying to get hot water up there to open t stat while car was warm and running.

My my impression was the water was boiling because it was NOT circulating passed the T stat and thru the radiator. Just a thought. Good luck

the violent bubbling could be air trying to escape. I think its a good thing if its starts bubbling like crazy because air bubbles/pockets are escaping..once it levels out you should be good. thats what i think tho

Thread revival as doing a search on google this thread came out on top and it did not help me at all. Below is what I did:

Open the radiator cap
Pour your ready mix or diluted coolant into the radiator spout until it comes up to the top
Replace cap
Remove bleed valve entirely
Using a funnel, SLOWLY, pour more coolant in here until it comes to the top, wait a few seconds and it will go back down, keep SLOWLY adding coolant until it barely goes back down or you want to move onto the next step to see if you're near enough.
Replace the bleeder valve cap (careful not to over tighten as its plastic)
Turn your AC temp all the way to hot
Turn your fan speed to max
Turn your AC off as its not used to create the heat
Now turn your car on with everything screwed back on and wait for your drivers side radiator to come on (when the car is hot)
Once the fan has come on, turn the car off
Undo the bleeder valve until you start to hear a hiss, SLOWLY turn it a tad more but do not remove it completly or hot coolant and vapour will piss out everywhere
Once hissing has stopped, undo the bleeder valve slowly until it comes off or more hissing is heard.
Pour more coolant into the bleeder valve
Replace cap
Start Car again
Give the car some revs and hold it at about 2000 RPM
Feel the temp coming out of the air vents, is it hot?
if it isnt, wait for the cooling fan to come back on, turn the car off, and open the bleeder valve to let more air out
If its hot, you're nearly finished, turn the car off, undo bleeder valve, if no hissing is heard, take it all the way off and top it up with more coolant to be safe.
undo the radiator cap, check if you can put more coolant in
gently squeeze the hose underneath the radiator cap to help any air bubble come to the surface (squeezing this tube will also push air/fluid out of the bleeder valve so watch that too)
Once everything is full, including the reservoir, put the caps back on, start the car one more time and feel the air coming out of the vents, if its hot it mean that the coolant has filled all the hoses and is reaching the mechanism which provides heat for the AC system.

The end, no where else did i find instructions as in depth as that, most places just say yea do this and it should pretty much work... not helpful and not step by step. Doing it as above required nothing more than a screwdriver and coolant, and only a basic funnel to pour coolant in.

Keywords search engine: coolant radiator bleed bleeding valve cap overheating solution

One thing I would add is prime the heater core cold until no more air bubbles. (With engine off). Rinse, repeat.

You rock! I am an obsessive researcher and I want to do a coolant flush on my used Z. So many videos and bad threads and I finally found your small, concise write up. Thanks!

I'm thinking the secret is to ignore the freaking advice to Jack up the front end. Air goes up in water, and raising the front end takes the bleeder valve out to position as the highest point

Don't listen to idiots on the internet. Yes I'm aware of the irony here
 

OK. I listened to all the fancy tricks from all of the idiots on youtube with the most views, like many of you guys did. I boiled my engine over 5 times right after rebuilding it myself! Lucky I didn't blow a headgasket! Here's what I learned, and should have reasoned for myself. That bleeder valve is at the highest point for a freaking reason! Air is supposed to come out of there, not the radiator cap. I bled my system 3 times in a row, on an incline (40 minute cool down periods). Then I drove it 3 miles and boiled the motor over again. Waited 20 minutes bled the system once more, on the flat, and drove the same route back home with the heater on full blast hitting 4.5k rpm twice. Heater never cooled down once, and the temp needle never got to the hallway mark once. Follow basic logic and help the damned air go up. I feel like an idiot for listening to these so-called experts without a critical ear. Follow the shop guide or fsm with no fancy tricks.
That funnel with the radiator cap is a good tool though. Also try to lightly tap the heater hose with your finger. You'll get air out you wouldn't have otherwise.

G35 & 350Z - bleeding air from cooling system
 

I have a 2004 G35 which has the same coolant setup and engine. This is in my opinion the best YouTube example out there and the one I use on my vehicle. It defiantly works and I too had the 'No Heat Problem' prior to this answer. If you have no heat, then you will indeed have air in the system. Simple as that. Most general shop mechanics do not know how this system works in order to get rid of the air pockets and all to often often the car owner finds themselves without heat come winter. After you raise the front end of your car higher than the rear end you start the procedure. Very important to raise that front end up so that the trapped air flows out at the radiator cap opening. The coolant air release cap that is at the back of the engine is required to rid the air completely out of the system. By following the advise given you will succeed in getting your heater to throw hot air. Guaranteed.

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