[Kirkcelica]

Hi people,

Has anyone noticed how difficult it is to remove air from the cooling system? Ive followed other peoples recommendations and toyotas procedure, but im just not getting even 50% of the air out.

Procedure:

Hook reservoir above engine
Remove bleed screw and black cap
Watch air coming up for around 30mins, revving engine occasionally.

After watching a lot if air come out, i get back in the car and can still hear the aquatics centre coming from the engine as i drive around town.

I don't have a leak so it cant be drawing more air in from somewhere.

Please help people

 

[Carcept GT-S]

make sure the car is in the air then hook the resevoir above the engine, masage hoses, keep the revs up at 2500 ish, blast the heat in the car while its running. Some people might disagree with me but i let the coolant get warm, shut the car off and slowly with caution (with a few rags over the cap/bleeder to protect myself from getting burned) release the pressure/air from the resevoir and then start the car again and ussually soon after the thermostat opens and then bam no more air. Thats just my way, its a little messy but i take no responsability if you get burnt

edit: it may need to be done more than once, as you get air out you will likely need more coolant

 

[Smaay]

hooking the reservoir above the engine does nothing. i dont care what the manuals say. the best way to burp the engine is jack the front of the car up as high as you can. run the engine and massage the hoses. rev the engine for about 20 seconds, and keep adding coolant/water.

 

[DSMBoost]

hooking the reservoir above the engine does nothing. i dont care what the manuals say. the best way to burp the engine is jack the front of the car up as high as you can. run the engine and massage the hoses. rev the engine for about 20 seconds, and keep adding coolant/water.

^ This. Jacking the car up is not necessary, but it makes the process a lot quicker. You can also put the car on an incline if jacking it up is not an option. Also, keep the heater on full blast while you do bleed the coolant.

 

[creekboi7]

Try it at your own risk...

I've done it a few times. I never jack the car and I dont elevate the reservoir. I simply put the heat on full blast and start to fill with the bleeder cap barely screwed on, each time the car gets hot the bleeder will spew out hot air, when that happens the coolant level goes down and i refill, i do this for a while until it seems to be fine. Then i take the car out for a spin [with a good amount of spare coolant], if the car starts looking like its going to over heat i pull over and add more coolant, with caution to not let the hot coolant that shoots out burn you. and keep doing it until you start getting hot air out of the heater. I find it better to unscrew the cap slowly, relieving the air pressure that way it doesnt shoot straight out at you. also careful with where the excess coolant hose points, cause that will shoot out coolant.

Out of all the ways I've tried, this seems to be the quickest for me. To each their own though.

 

[Kirkcelica]

Thanks for all the info people.

Creekboi, are you taking the car for a spin with the bleeder valve still barely screwed on?

This is what is confusing me, the air is coming out of the bleeder screw but its endless, its like im drawing air back in some how?

I didnt try jacking the front end up, that may be the first thing i do on Monday. I DON'T have a heater core at the moment, it developed a leak, hence the air in my coolant. Im just bypassing it at the moment.

 

[Kirkcelica]

Is it best to have the reservoir full to the top of the bottle neck when getting the air out?

 

[DSMBoost]

Is it best to have the reservoir full to the top of the bottle neck when getting the air out?

Not completely to the top, but above the max line is okay.

Don't drive around with the bleeder valve loose. It will not help. Rev the motor to 3k for a few seconds at a time while squeezing the hoses. Do this several times. That is sufficient.

If you have a noticeable coolant leak, then yes, air would find its way right back into the system even while bleeding it. If you had a small leak, it would take some time for air to go back in, it would not be immediate. Also, are you sure you're bleeding air out at this point? Because coolant will still flow out of there even if you have no air. You must see bubbles. Monitoring the temperature with an obd2 scanner helps enormously while doing this procedure.

I was in a similar situation last year. I would bleed the air out and everything went back to normal. One day later, air found its way right back in. After going back and forth with this for a week, I realized I had a small leak in the radiator.

 

[Kirkcelica]

Hey DSM

I'm sure there isnt a leak, the coolant level never changes, only when i try to bleed the air out. I'll try it again on Monday, it's just really annoying because this is like the 4th time ive been revving the engine and letting it idle etc and theres still loads of air i haven't got out. I will have to pick up some more coolant too!

 

[Kirkcelica]

Should i be getting bubbles coming out from the reservoir under the black cap, or the little reservoir under the bleeder screw?

 

[DSMBoost]

Should i be getting bubbles coming out from the reservoir under the black cap, or the little reservoir under the bleeder screw?

Under the bleeder screw. Keep the black cap screwed on tight. Also, if you have a small leak, you won't notice the level in the reservoir drop until you drive the car for a bit.

 

[Kirkcelica]

Ok mate.

I have been doing it with the black cap off, i thought thats what other people have done in the past. So the only thing i should have open its the bleeder screw, and i top the coolant up via the hole left when you take the screw out? Do i put the bleeder screw on slightly when coolant is not needed?

 

[DSMBoost]

Ok mate.

I have been doing it with the black cap off, i thought thats what other people have done in the past. So the only thing i should have open its the bleeder screw, and i top the coolant up via the hole left when you take the screw out? Do i put the bleeder screw on slightly when coolant is not needed?

You have to bleed the air only through the bleed screw. When you are low on coolant, that's when you can take the black cap off and add coolant (you can leave the bleeder screw loose). Make sure you tighten the black cap up after you fill it.

 

[Kirkcelica]

Ok man

thanks for all the good information people. If i can i will do a description with images and post under maintenance.