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vt how to bleed the air from the cooling system ?

damotheking

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can someone tell me the CORRECT way to bleed the air from the cooling system
i have a idea how but seems like now and then i have to do it all over again is this normal
 

graham7773

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GMH has a "tool" for doing this. However, it can be replaced by a 2 litre coke bottle with the bottom cut off and some insulation tape wrapped around the bottle filler neck to make it a neat fit in the radiator neck. Stert your motor (cold) and open the bleed valve on top of your thermostat. Simply pour coolant through the coke bottle until no more will go in and no bubbles are coming out of the bleed valve. close the bleed valve, not too tight and make sure you still have a full radiator. replace cap and check that your overflow is at the right level. Done. I posted this a few months ago but I cannot find the op.
Just by the way, if you are constantly losing coolant check for leaks(obvious) if you can't see any get your system pressure tested.
 

accentstencil

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wats the point of the coke bottle???

To keep the coolant level higher than the bleeding screw, letting gravity do the work.
 

wortus

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GMH has a "tool" for doing this. However, it can be replaced by a 2 litre coke bottle with the bottom cut off and some insulation tape wrapped around the bottle filler neck to make it a neat fit in the radiator neck. Stert your motor (cold) and open the bleed valve on top of your thermostat. Simply pour coolant through the coke bottle until no more will go in and no bubbles are coming out of the bleed valve. close the bleed valve, not too tight and make sure you still have a full radiator. replace cap and check that your overflow is at the right level. Done. I posted this a few months ago but I cannot find the op.
Just by the way, if you are constantly losing coolant check for leaks(obvious) if you can't see any get your system pressure tested.

This is how I have bled both mine and a friends, you should also make sure the heater tap is turned on and depending on how the bottle fits into the top of th eradiator you may need to either pinch off the overflow hose or take it out of the overflow and hold it above the top of the coke bottle as the coolant may flow into the overflow as well.
 

graham7773

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vscommo, in answer to your query "sounds pretty pointless to me wats wrong with pouring it in the radiator with out the coke bottle?" Holden dealers use their fill/bleed tool with 100% success, ie no air locks after using their bleed "tool". The coke bottle is a good substitute and costs nothing as opposed to $49 for the GM tool. Wortus, the overflow question, you put the neck of the coke bottle in the lower section of the filler neck, below the overflow oulet. As accentstencil said, "let gravity do the work" by raising the coolant level above the bleed screw, about 10cm in the coke bottle to make sure.
 

wortus

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Graham, no worries I can see how it works now with a Coke bottle. When I did mine I used a Gatorage bottle and the cap was bigger than a Coke bottle so it only went in as far as the pressure cap goes. I found it useful as the excess coolant in the bottle could be bled off into the overflow and you don't spill any.
 

Brett_jjj

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It has got me stuffed why so many people have trouble with air locks and bleeding the air out of the ecotec engine.I have drained my vs radiator that many times that Ive lost count,and Ive never had trouble,just fill it up again and go.I mentioned about this to a radiator repair bloke one day,and he said that because the bleeder screw is there for holden to connect their bleeder tool to,people think they have to undo it to bleed the air from the cooling system.He said they didnt worry about touching it,they just fill the radiator and thats it.I always used to undo the bleeder a little bit whilst filling the radiator and then just tighten it up again.But then after talking to this guy,I didnt bother with it and I have still never had one problem with having to bleed it because of air locks or whatever.Id just try filling the radiator to the top and also make sure the overflow bottle is at the max level and then recheck the overflow bottle and radiator levels after its been driven or bought up to operating temp and completely cooled down again.This is all I do and it works every time.
 

wortus

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It has got me stuffed why so many people have trouble with air locks and bleeding the air out of the ecotec engine.I have drained my vs radiator that many times that Ive lost count,and Ive never had trouble,just fill it up again and go.I mentioned about this to a radiator repair bloke one day,and he said that because the bleeder screw is there for holden to connect their bleeder tool to,people think they have to undo it to bleed the air from the cooling system.He said they didnt worry about touching it,they just fill the radiator and thats it.I always used to undo the bleeder a little bit whilst filling the radiator and then just tighten it up again.But then after talking to this guy,I didnt bother with it and I have still never had one problem with having to bleed it because of air locks or whatever.Id just try filling the radiator to the top and also make sure the overflow bottle is at the max level and then recheck the overflow bottle and radiator levels after its been driven or bought up to operating temp and completely cooled down again.This is all I do and it works every time.

I think the idea here is to post the correct way to do things, it's no extra effort to use a coke bottle or similar and it also makes a good funnel
 
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