Trouble bleeding collant; S50, New E30 Radiator

[graphikg]

I have been having issues bleeding my coolant system. I installed a new radiator, thermostat, and waterpump, and I just cant get the car to bleed proprerly. I am still feeling cold air out of the vents when pn full heat.

I have:

Filled coolant and distilled water slowly through the expansion tank.
Lifted the car on the driver side
and throttled the car to have air escape with the cap off
I also did my share of massaging the top radiator hose.

Any tips of what else to do?

I have brought the car no more than the 1/2 way mark but it does seem to be getting hot.

Cant burp the sucker at all!!! Help...?

[36brua]

Try jacking car up in front not just one side. 12"+
Remove overflow line from top of radiator.
Remove top radiator hose, remove cap from xpansion tank
add coolant in radiator hose not tank.
put overflow line back on when coolant comes out

[Roysneon]

I've had to fill the hoses with water then connect them up, then fill the rest through the res. a couple times.

[graphikg]

Thanks - ill try this. Where is the best place to jack the car up from the front? Subframe?

Or i will just put stands on both sides on the front.


In the process, I have tried to bleed the car several times with no success the original way I mentioned. The Temp never went past 1/2 way, but I did hear a bubbling/boiling sound underneathe the valve cover where the coilpacks are. Was that bubbling/boiling oil??? I have no idea what the sound was, and it did not sound good.

I hope I am not damaging up the head gasket.

[K-Line]

drill a 1/16" hole through the thermostat, allows the bubbles in the block to escape

[ParsedOut]

drill a 1/16" hole through the thermostat, allows the bubbles in the block to escape

^^this is by far the best way along with jacking up the front end.

[graphikg]

drill a 1/16" hole through the thermostat, allows the bubbles in the block to escape

The thermostat already came with a hole drilled in the front with some type of alluminum oval shaped thing in the middle of it.

I still try the filling of the hoses and hope I didnt fry my HG.

[36brua]

post up in norcal chat thread- There are a bunch of guys in south bay that might give you some help

[TheRealE30kidd]

I added a bleeder screw to my Tstat housing and it works like a champ no more bleeding problems

[ParsedOut]

I added a bleeder screw to my Tstat housing and it works like a champ no more bleeding problems

Drill and tap?

[36brua]

How to install bleedscrew

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=246764

you have the thermostat in correctly ? spring end towards engine bleed hole/arrow pointing up?

[graphikg]

Ok - I tried the method and got a good response from the car. I felt nice hot air from the vents at idle for about 15 mins. The temp hand was between 1/4 and 1/2. So it was at the right spot.

However, after 15 mins of idle and some revving, the vents got cool again and the temp started rising. What the heck happened???

I am just going to have the car cool and try again.

[golde30]

this seems to be a common problem on 24v swapped e30's. i had to bleed mine 3x to get all the air out. the last car i built i thought was all good, its been on the road for about 3k miles, and now all the sudden no heat in the cabin....back to more bleeding.

[TheRealE30kidd]

How to install bleedscrew

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=246764

you have the thermostat in correctly ? spring end towards engine bleed hole/arrow pointing up?

Love it!

[NickL]

Try this. It works every time the first time for me. Jack the car up. Take the top rad hose off the rad and fill through there. Once it overflows, put the hose back on, fill the expansion tank up a bit and start the car. Massage the upper and lower hoses and you should be fine.