Did I bleed cooling system correctly?

[deXtrous]

Hey so I recently flushed my cooling system, installed new water pump and thermostat and then I find out I have to bleed the air out of the system.

I get a basic idea of how to do it from various places, and this is what I did:

Turned car on and left it at 2,500rpm for 5 minutes with heater on High.

After the 5 minutes, with the car on, I opened the bleeder valve on the thermostat housing

A lot of air was coming out, with a mixture of coolant as well. It seemed like it came out in bursts so I kept the valve loose for a couple minutes... Nothing was changing so I tightened the valve, turned the car off and loosened it again.

Was doing the same thing now, just with a bit less pressure... I kept it going for a couple minutes, draining my coolant, I could hear it in the radiator going down.

It never fully came out liquid only, always a bubbley mixture. Got fed up and left it.


I did it wrong didn't I?

[wortus]

I think so. Get a Gatorade bottle or similar and cut the bottom off it. Remove the lid and wrap electrical tape around the top thread until it is a snug fit inthe radiator where the cap goes. Take the overflow tube off the bottle and make sure it's open end is higher than the top of the Gatorade bottle. With a cold motor refill the system with the heater tap turned on and the bleed screw opened. When coolant starts to come out of the bleed screw it's bled. Put overflow back onto overflow bottle and fill the overflow bottle up. Take car for a spin and all shjould be good. You can check for any air by bleeding it again the same way after it has cooled down.
Gatorade bottle gives a head of coolant higher than the bleed screw so should remove all of the air.

[deXtrous]

Thanks Wortus! Bled perfectly this time (with that method).

[AussieHolden]

The way I did mine was to fill the radiator leave cap off run engine till it reaches operating temp during this time the thermo stat will open and you will see the water level drop from the radiator top up with water stil leave cap off while it is still getting to operating temp as the water level will drop a little a few times more but not as much as the first time. Once operating temp is reached top up with water if required and put your radiator cap on give it a few minutes then open the bleed valve air will come out at first then with water and air then just water then close of bleed valve. All done your happy car is happy. Also don't forget to top up overflow bottle the next day when it is cold to the max level and check for the next few days as if you have to continue to top up it will indicate a leak in the system some were this is what happened to me a few weeks ago I required a new radiator and a heater core + heater tap last week only got this together yesterday as I had a problem with one heater hose.