Hey Guys,

I accidentally turned on my Z while forgetting to twist the engine oil-cap back in place. I was doing my oil change and I turned the car on to let the new-oil circulate thru the engine.

My engine over-heated and it seems like I have air in my coolant system (the anti-freezer gets sucked in gulps by the radiator) so I tried bleeding the coolant system with a spill free funnel but only made a mess (the anti-freezer spilled everywhere as the boiling fluid spat out the funnel).

My "check engine soon" light came on and am concerned: How did my dumb accident of turning the car on while forgetting to put the engine-oil cap on affected the engine?
And how could this have affected the air in the coolant system?

I noticed one of the radiator fans do not always turn on (it turns on when I turn it manually). The fan harness seems to be tightly in place.

Would very much appreciate your inputs. Thanks.

 

Make sure you didn't put oil in the radiator.

Make sure the radiator is full when cold.
Idle the engine a few minutes, then stop it and open the bleeder.
Re-check the coolant level in the radiator and coolant bottle.
Repeat if necessary.

The fans only come on when the engine is hot or if you run the A/C.

 

I would check your cooling fans to make sure they come on. The radiator fans do go bad on the Z quite regularly. You can prime your coolant to make sure you get all of the air out but just add some water and that should be all you need.

Also, I had to laugh at the title. For your sake, I hope air does get into your engine.

 

@Dman, Haha, ikr, just realized its a silly title...guess my train of thought was wondering whether the air in the engine got to the radiator/coolant system and caused my engine to overheat.

@myfirstzcar, Bruh i tried looking around for the drinking bleeder valve & could not locate it. came across a pic showing it, tried it, but heard no air escaping as normal bleeder valves do (nor coolant fluid exiting from the bleeder valve as normal valves do). Any pictures or pointers as to finding the valve would be appreciate it...

Since the bleeder valve method was a dead end, i tried the old school method: the spill-free funnel, but that was another dead end...**** got me frustrated & was wondering if i could rent a scanner to read my computer & tell me exactly what is causing my "check engine soon" light to come on. Kinda got a feeling one of the fan sensors went bad since boiling coolant blew off everywhere. Might have to replace some hoses too but it'll still come back to having to find the bleeder to make sure air is out the cooling syst or the overheating issue could blow up in my face again. smh...

 

Dont do this lol.

 

@SR71: lol, irk put trany fluid in there too while at it...

 

So you found the bleeder valve, which is actually a screw, tried it, but don't know where it is?
You have to warm up the coolant just enough to make some pressure, but not so much pressure that it causes a major blowout when you open the screw.
Make sure the rad is full before you do this.

 

Jack the front end of the car up. Squeeze your coolant hoses a few times, main one would be the little short one at the top of the radiator on the left. Let gravity do its thing. Splash more water. Rinse repeat. Works for me every time.

 

@myfirstzcar & Dman: I jacked the front & tried warming up the engine & turned (about 2 turns) the plastic screw but heard no air escaping the system nor saw any fluid ejecting as other normal valves do (the valves that attaches to the engine b/c this one seems to be linked up to the A/C). So because I heard no air or saw no fluid eject, I assumed that plastic screw was not the coolant system valve. I tried squeezing the hoses also.

I could try it again & take some pictures of the plastic valve (so u guys can confirm whether its the correct one or maybe there is another valve that connects directly to the engine).

 

The coolant bleeder takes a #3 Philips screwdriver, it's black, and is located on one of the heater hoses near the intake on the passenger side.

 

Hi guys, so i took pics but can't seem to be able to upload them.

@myfirstzcar : Maybe i can email it to you to confirm the bleeder valve? That would be super
dope.

 

Sorry, but I won't be giving out my e-mail. You should be able to post it here using Photo bucket or something.