Bleeding the coolant system_ Your methods please

[johnny5]

Ok I have searched but found nothing and it seems a lot of people ask so what is your full proof method to bleed that pesky air from the system have heard alot ways but does anyone have a way guaranteed to work?

[Cloud]

fill it up , idle with heater on, wait till she takes a gulp and all air bubbles have stoped, top up header tank as needed. done .afaik

[johnny5]

how long do ya wait til it takes that gulp though will the water in the tank expand as it heats and make a mess everywhere

[Scoobydoo]

Also do it with the car parked facing up a hill. Last time I did mine, i ran it for over 20 minutes, revving it for about a minute every 5 minutes or so, with the A/C on full bore. Have the overflow bottle filled up as well.

Yes it will boil over a little bit, but it\'s only water so it will just steam off anything hot.

Another good trick to do (although I didn\'t do it), is cut the bottom off a 1.5L coke bottle and have that sit upside down on the top water tank. It should just sit there nicely, with the neck inside the water tank. Fill it up with water and whenever you rev, it will just bubble up into that. That creates a very high level of water, so it will always ensure there is enough water in the system. It will just cause a bit of a mess when you remove it, since it\'s already upside down haha.

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Jack the front of the car up, face it uphill, use the 1.5 bottle to get a good head of water, turn on the heater full blat, run the car up till the fans run, squeezing all the hoses to get the air bubbles out.

[nztintin]

If you can bleed it over a week, thats what I\'ve done in the past.

fill with coolant, squeeze top pipe of radiator a few times to get as many bubbles out as possible. then leave over night

repeat step 1 everyday for a few days

then after a few days start the car with the cap off and heater on full hot, and let it idle till it starts to overflow (5 mins) then put the cap on and let the engine heat up fully (make sure overflow bottle is full)

turn car off and let it cool (over night)

check coolant levels and top up if needed (both header tank and overflow bottle), then take the car for a drive

check the levels the next day and it should be all good

[lachlan]

need details on car .

[madmike]

 lachlan said:

need details on car .

4 wheels, 1 steering wheel.

And I would say the motor is most probably subaru flavoured...

[Subirex Automotive]

 madmike said:

4 wheels, 1 steering wheel.

And I would say the motor is most probably subaru flavoured...

LIKE

[lachlan]

Well a bg5 has the self bleed from Rad end tank back to top tank . Most other stuff doesn\'t . Changes things a bit

[Zeus]

 Scoobydoo said:

Another good trick to do (although I didn\'t do it), is cut the bottom off a 1.5L coke bottle and have that sit upside down on the top water tank. It should just sit there nicely, with the neck inside the water tank.

Wouldn\'t advise this. I have tried it before and the plastic neck warps in the heat, it doesn\'t create that good of a seal, and try holding that thing when full of engine heated water.

[Zeus]

 lachlan said:

Well a bg5 has the self bleed from Rad end tank back to top tank . Most other stuff doesn\'t . Changes things a bit

Every Subaru is pretty much self bleeding, but you have to bleed as much as you can.

The overflow bottle isn\'t there to catch excess fluid in the cooling system, you should always have the overflow filled to the max line on the bottle (you\'re an idiot if it\'s empty). The way it works is when air is in the system it is relieved through the top hose in your expansion tank and towards the overflow bottle, this also creates a vaccum and fluid is then sucked from the overflow bottle back into the cooling system rather than air if it were empty.

[tebbyj]

1) Jack up font of car

2) disconnect top rad hose from rad and fill block from here slowly

3) reconnect hose and fill through top tank slowly while squeezing top and bottom rad hoses

4) run engine with cap off filling when needed

5) hold car at around 2-2.5k rpm full top tank all the way up and put cap on

6) keep running engine and top up over flow as bubbles will come out of here now that cap is on

Keep an eye on levels over next week or so.

Has worked for me hundreds of times and no funnel is needed ;D

[Zeus]

 tebbyj said:

1) Jack up font of car

2) disconnect top rad hose from rad and fill block from here slowly

3) reconnect hose and fill through top tank slowly while squeezing top and bottom rad hoses

4) run engine with cap off filling when needed

5) hold car at around 2-2.5k rpm full top tank all the way up and put cap on

6) keep running engine and top up over flow as bubbles will come out of here now that cap is on

Keep an eye on levels over next week or so.

Has worked for me hundreds of times and no funnel is needed ;D

B.I.N.G.O. No heaters/fans turned on required on Subarus

[johnny5]

yup predicted there would be alot of methods good work guys will take all these points into consideration when doing me mates car

[Disruptz]

it\'s actually pretty easy, just like a oil change. After filling it up, I just turn the heater o full, and turn the wheels full clockwise & anti a few times to help push through bubbles.

[Zeus]

 Disruptz said:

turn the wheels full clockwise & anti a few times to help push through bubbles.

Why?

[lachlan]

 Zeus']

[quote name='lachlan said:

Well a bg5 has the self bleed from Rad end tank back to top tank . Most other stuff doesn\'t . Changes things a bit

/quote]

Every Subaru is pretty much self bleeding, but you have to bleed as much as you can.

The overflow bottle isn\'t there to catch excess fluid in the cooling system, you should always have the overflow filled to the max line on the bottle (you\'re an idiot if it\'s empty). The way it works is when air is in the system it is relieved through the top hose in your expansion tank and towards the overflow bottle, this also creates a vaccum and fluid is then sucked from the overflow bottle back into the cooling system rather than air if it were empty.

100%NOT what i was talking about

there is 2 . one if from the end tank on the radiator to bleed air from the high point

other one you are on about is self explanatory

[lachlan]

have they not got a water tap in the heater to controll the temp ?

how else do they controll temp of heater core ?

every car ever has a tap .

if heater is set on cold then there is no flow through the heater core and if its full of air then your wasting your time

filling through top rad hose is best but un necessary on some cars

[Eight_dollar]

 Zeus']

[quote name='tebbyj said:

1) Jack up font of car

2) disconnect top rad hose from rad and fill block from here slowly

3) reconnect hose and fill through top tank slowly while squeezing top and bottom rad hoses

4) run engine with cap off filling when needed

5) hold car at around 2-2.5k rpm full top tank all the way up and put cap on

6) keep running engine and top up over flow as bubbles will come out of here now that cap is on

Keep an eye on levels over next week or so.

Has worked for me hundreds of times and no funnel is needed ;D

/quote]

B.I.N.G.O. No heaters/fans turned on required on Subarus

Ahhh - indeed not needed for bleeding, but you need to know that the heater has bleed up and has flow

(fan on low speed, heater on full hot- to use as an indicator for flow)

If it doesnt have flow then the thermostat will not open

[tebbyj]

 lachlan']

have they not got a water tap in the heater to controll the temp ?

how else do they controll temp of heater core ?

every car ever has a tap .

When driver selects cold a flap swings in the air vent and diverts air around the heater matrix rather than through it. A tap to the heater core is actually not overly common on modern cars.

However:

[quote name='Eight dollar said:

Ahhh - indeed not needed for bleeding, but you need to know that the heater has bleed up and has flow

(fan on low speed, heater on full hot- to use as an indicator for flow)

This is true and forgot to put it in...

Goes without saying i think

[Stodart]

 johnny5 said:

Ok I have searched but found nothing and it seems a lot of people ask so what is your full proof method to bleed that pesky air from the system have heard alot ways but does anyone have a way guaranteed to work?

Take top hose off radiator, fill engine with water (garden hose) , anti freeze in radiator, run up to temperature with radiator cap off to release air etc for at least 1/2 hr, top up when necessary, expansion bottle to "full", shut off engine, radiator cap back on, recheck after it cools down, top up, recheck / top up until its ok, patience is required. This method works for me, never have any airlock issues.

Heater and a/c settings make no difference to water flow through heater core, as heating / cooling is controled by flaps diverting away / directing air through heater core.