Bleeding the coolant after a flush and refill

Post Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:15 pm

Me again. As ive just given my car an oil change, i decided to be even nicer to her and drain, flush and refill the coolant.

I drained it ok, and flushing was a doddle using a hosepipe. I then refilled it with 2 litres of antifreeze and the rest water, but i couldnt undo the bleed screw on top of the thermostat housing to save my life. The bloody thing wouldnt budge, so i ran my car for a bit, let it cool, topped it up and repeated this until it didnt need topping up.

Are there likely to be any airlocks in the system? All the hoses are heating up, the temp gauge rises normally and the heater blows out hot air. Does it matter if I couldnt open the bleed screw?

Post Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:17 pm

Ideally you'll get it open and bleed it, but it could be ok....

An airlock could create a hotspot in the engine causing a part of it to fail....

Try using molegrips to undo it if it's rounded off?

Good luck.

Leave the expansion cap lid off, and put the heaters on full when bleeding.

Guest · Post Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:22 pm

this happened 2 mine 2,but u can bleed it through the water bottle, put the heater on the fastest seting,leave lid off bottle and hold the revs at abt 2500/3000 rpm,do this under the bonnet and look inside bottle and u will b able 2c the water returning around the system ,flushing any air locks out

Post Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:35 pm

i had the same problem with the bleed screw the other day

just used mole grips , killed the bolt , but got a new one from the stealers for pennies

job done

Post Mon Apr 18, 2005 10:55 pm

If you park the car on a high kerb or axle stand so the expansion tank is the highest part of the cooling system you can bleed it like that.

Post Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:05 am

Andy_magic wrote:If you park the car on a high kerb or axle stand so the expansion tank is the highest part of the cooling system you can bleed it like that.

I love these kind of tips

Post Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:38 pm

Jesus325iTouring wrote:
Andy_magic wrote:If you park the car on a high kerb or axle stand so the expansion tank is the highest part of the cooling system you can bleed it like that.
I love these kind of tips

Me too. Thanks