Coolant bleeding problem

8th January 2012, 15:46

Ok so i'm trying to bleed my coolant, drained the coolant, undid the first nipple, milk bottle on top of the header tank, engine on, filling until there's coolant always in the milk bottle. Now the first nipple starts to bleed, but it's just constantly making bubbles, and the thermostat never opens. And i never have hot air. :s

Ive had a new water pump, new thermostat, i never lose coolant when driving, and there's no mayo under the oil cap.

8th January 2012, 16:02

bleed it with the engine off mate. open the rad one till coolant runs through then the one on the stat housing + then the one at the back.

run up let it get with the cap off so air should vent out and then top up

8th January 2012, 16:07

I'll try it now, cheers

8th January 2012, 16:08

ofcourse closing each one when the coolant runs through lol

8th January 2012, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by f13sta

bleed it with the engine off mate. open the rad one till coolant runs through then the one on the stat housing + then the one at the back.

run up let it get with the cap off so air should vent out and then top up

tried that, did what you said, water just bobbed up and down on the header tank for ages, annd the car started to overheat and no hot air, shall i try bleed it again the normal way? i've never had a problem like this when bleeding before :@ starting to think h/g may have gone? but i don't loose coolant :s

8th January 2012, 17:00

did the fan kick in? the haynes says to bleed with engine off with the bottle in start it up and sit with it at about 1500 rpm it be like its 'burping' it'self do thins untill fan comes on turn off put cap on and leave till it's cool and top up.

did you get the coolant to come out of all the bleed holes before starting ?

8th January 2012, 17:00

have you checked your fan is coming in ?

8th January 2012, 17:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by f13sta

did the fan kick in? the haynes says to bleed with engine off with the bottle in start it up and sit with it at about 1500 rpm it be like its 'burping' it'self do thins untill fan comes on turn off put cap on and leave till it's cool and top up.

did you get the coolant to come out of all the bleed holes before starting ?

Nope the fan didn't kick in, yep i had a constant flow out of all 3 bleed nipples, starting with the one on the rap (doing ea one back up as i go on) then thermostat one, then one at the back, then watched the header tank still with the milk bottle in, temperature rose well above half with no fan, so i turned the engine off (n)

edit: my fan does work though, as it came on last night before i bled the system today

8th January 2012, 17:07

and you never got any warm air? through the heater ? was it on the warm setting? (not trying to insult you or anything )

8th January 2012, 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by f13sta

and you never got any warm air? through the heater ? was it on the warm setting? (not trying to insult you or anything )

Nope, i did get a bit of warmth last night, was on the warm setting

, but now it's freezing, somthings not right

8th January 2012, 17:12

hmmm that sounds very strange, yours is doing what mine were apart from i had warm air, my fan never came on when bleeding. did you give the system a flush. it sounds like you heater matrix could be blocked slightly. cause you have bled it right to my knowllage. did you do the water pump yourself?

8th January 2012, 17:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by f13sta

hmmm that sounds very strange, yours is doing what mine were apart from i had warm air, my fan never came on when bleeding. did you give the system a flush. it sounds like you heater matrix could be blocked slightly. cause you have bled it right to my knowllage. did you do the water pump yourself?

How would i flush it? Just run water through every bleed nipple and rad? I take it if the heater matrix was blocked that would cause overheating? As coolant wouldn't be getting round?

Yes i did the waterpump and cambelt my self, done a few before with no problems like this though, I'll add when i first bled the system after the water pump was done, it didn't overheat until i take it past 70mph, starting to think you might be right about the heater matrix.

8th January 2012, 17:20

all i've ever done to flush a system is get a hose pipe up the rad hoses and wait for the water to run clear.

i would have though a blocked heater matrix would cause overheating or you could drain the system again and remove the matrix to flush it properly. bit of a ball ach but it's one less thing on the list of possible problems.

8th January 2012, 17:20

There are several ways of doing it successfully. I use this method:

Make sure the engine is cold! As cold water on a warm engine can cause stuff to crack etc!

- I get a coke bottle cut the top off and then tape it to the top of the header tank (on the left side of the rad)

- Fill the header tank up with coolant/water mix. Open the first bleed point back left corner of the bay (looks like a dustcap) wait till a constant flow of water is coming out then replace cap.

- Then locate the next bleed point which is on the thermorstat housing and you need to use a allen key to undo it. Open it until you can see a little drilled hole. Again wait for a constant flow of water. Then do it back up. (make sure the header tank is always topped up, having a mate with you makes this easier)

- Then turn on the engine put the heaters on full blast and hot. Wait for hot air to come out then turn them off.

- Wait for the thermostat to open (top rad hose will get hot) once it does open the third bleed point on the right hand side of the rad (wear marigolds imo, may sound gay but the water is fooking hot!!)

Job done!

8th January 2012, 17:26

they can be a proper bastard to bleed. Sometimes you get the annoying gurgling noises in the dash

the way i bleed it - slowly start pouring the water/coolant with the engine off and just the rad bleed point open. Until its constant with no bubbles then i shut it off. Then as im still pouring i open the thermostat bleed point. Until its constant with no bubbles then i shut it off. Then for bleed point at the back of the engine, I employ someone else to quickly shut it off when theres no air bubbles, whilst i put my mouth(and fingers) around the coolant bottle to form a tight seal, and blow. Might take a couple of blows but eventually all the air is blown out the system and its a constant flow of water coming out the last bleed point (thats when the other person shuts it off quick)

8th January 2012, 17:43

Cheers for all the help lads, I'm going to try bleed it one more time, if i don't get hot air and the car still over heats, i'm putting it down to the heater matrix, dash out time

8th January 2012, 17:47

I open up all 3 bleed points, fill until water comes out of all three with no bubbles. Sometimes it'll take a while.

You kinda end up closing them in whatever order they bleed first.

8th January 2012, 19:21

Just did it krisb's way, had a constant flow through all nipples, (closing each one as i went along) while having the bottle filled, fan does not kick in at all, and starts to go way over half way on the temp gauage, and i still have no hot air at all,

8th January 2012, 19:54

Just checked my passenger footwell, and the sound deadining is soaked, and i can see some coolant on the heater matrix, dash out time

8th January 2012, 23:08

Sounds like a split pipe then buddy, I was going to say a blocked radiator as this caused me problems before. make sure all of the radiators warm not just warm at the top or bottom.

9th January 2012, 20:19

New heater matrix is in, but now i don't get any air at all from the blowers, will it not start blowing until coolant has circulated the heater matrix core?

Edit, fuse had gone, car doesn't over heat anymore and fan kicks in, blowers still don't work, but i just remembered i forgot to plug in the heater fan, least it's not over heating anymore, happy days