Radiator Hoses never seem to have fluid in them

[Dodobrown]

So after alot of headach of replacing my thermostat and my rad switch fan and filling and bleading my system. i gave up and brough my car to a local lube shop had them fill the rad with a pressurized system.

Should i still have to bleed the system after them putting the coolant in under pressure?

There should always be coolant in the rad hoses Hot or cold?

[jlevie]

The only way to get all of the air out of the system is to use a vacuum fill system. If you find air in the hoses after that, there is a head gasket leak. Lacking a vacuum fill system you can get almost all of the air out with the following procedure. The little air it will leave in the system won't cause any problems.

1) Using ramps or a jack get the front of the car 1' or more higher than
the rear. That will make the radiator and bleed screw the highest point
on the engine and facilitate removal of air.

2) With the bleed screw open, add coolant until no more air comes out of
the bleed.

3) Leave the filler cap off, or at least loose, and set the heat for max
temp and fan speed. Leaving the cap loose will prevent air that's still
in the system from causing a "coolant fountain" once the engine heats
up. Start the engine and allow it to warm up to operating temp. As it
warms up occasionally crack the bleed screw to release any air and top
up the coolant as necessary.

4) Once the engine is at temp bring it up to 2000-2500 for a few seconds
several times. Then crack the bleed until no more air is released. At
this point the heater should be throwing lots of hot air, which
indicates that the heater core is filled with coolant. You may have to
repeat this a few times to get all the air out.

5) Drive the car a bit, allow it to cool back down, and recheck the
bleed for air. Over the next few days you may get very small amounts (a
few bubbles) of air out of the bleed screw.

[Dodobrown]

they did use a vacume method when refilling my cooling system. i really hope i dont have a blow head gasket. i dont have anti freez in my oil and i dont blow blue/white smoke out of the exhaust.

[jlevie]

Those symptoms are just two of the possible types of head gasket leaks. Another is one that allows small amounts of air to be pumped into the cooling system from a cylinder. A simple check is to fully bleed the system, drive the car for a while and re-bleed. Release of a significant amount of air on that or a subsequent drive/bleed cycle is evidence of a head gasket leak.

[Dodobrown]

I dont think the car has ever been fully blead im gonna have to try to do it again then i guess. i hate dealing with the cooling system in this car it never seems to wanna let out all the air it endless.