PLEASE HELP!! Cooling system

[somerton81]

Please excuse my stupidity but I really need someone’s help here.:hmmm:

Car: 2003 VY Commodore Wagon – V6 – Dual fuel
Cooling works through radiator and engine - ~ 10-12L coolant needed

In the past I have been able to change my cars coolant quite easily. Yesterday seems to be a little more difficult. I wasn’t able to locate the radiator bleed valve so I simple disconnected the hose from the radiator and engine. Plenty came out from the radiator but not so much from the engine. To coax it along I disconnected the top hose from the radiator which went to the engine and blew as hard as I could. After a while more coolant came out.

After reconnecting the hoses I attempted to fill it up but it seemed that only 5L wanted to go into the radiator and 1L into the reservoir. This seemed logical as there was nothing to force it through into the engine. I thought it best to put the radiator cap back on and turn the car on to force the coolant through the system.

Was I wrong to do this??

I added a little more over time but I have not replaced a whole 10-12L. The car’s temperature stays stable but seems to rise faster than normal. I am unable to add more coolant as it seems full.

Would the quick rise in temperature be because there is air caught in the system?

Thanks again for any help

 

[colgf]

Sometimes you will get an air lock under the thermostat which tends to limit the refill , a good fix is to jack up the front of the car as high as you can & leave it overnight with the radiator cap off. The air trapped in the system will gradually rise to the high end of the system which is the top of the radiator if the car is jacked up high enough. then the next morning you simply fill up the radiator before lowering the jack.

 

[wortus]

If you want to drain the block you have to take out the knock sensors. I had to flush my coolant and did not bother to do that. I managed to get over 6 Litres out by removing the heater hoses at the engine and draining the heater core as well. After flushing it with clean water and connecting it all back up I refilled the system with 6 Litres of concentrated coolant and topped it up with clean water. You get the air out by bleeding the system by sticking something into the top of the radiator that seals (gatorade bottle with electrical tape around the thread and the base cut off works OK) and is higher than the thermostat and filling it with coolant then all you do is undo the bleed screw on top of the thermostat until no air comes out, you may want to check it again in a day or so but usually that's all you need to do to bleed it properly.