bleeding coolant

[ubernasty]

Just did my timing belt, water pump and other odds and ends.

Cars running great but keeps overheating with cold air from the heater.

I've searched everything about bleeding with the bolt on the thermostat and it isn't working for me.

All my hoses are hot as hell and both the hoses into and out of the heater core which is why i don't understand how i'm still getting cold air blowing out.

I've been trying to get this bled all fuckin day and spent prob 3-4 hours watching air come out of the bleeder. I need my car for work at 5 tomorrow morning so any and all help would be GREAT.

[Atreus]

when you bled the system you had the heater core valve open or closed?

[jasonsnoddy]

gotta make sure you do it on an uphill slope. also make sure its air coming out of the bleeder and not steamy coolant.

[ubernasty]

when you bled the system you had the heater core valve open or closed?

not sure what u mean. i had it on full blast full hot tho.

gotta make sure you do it on an uphill slope. also make sure its air coming out of the bleeder and not steamy coolant.

yeah i did it on a pretty steep slope in my driveway.

On a side note, now my battery died and don't know why.

[Reeves]

What do you mean it's not working for you?? Air isn't going to come into the system when it is heated up as hot liquid and air has expanded and is trying to escape, not come in.

Get the car heated up with the heater turned on then bleed the car.. Heat it back up again and keep bleeding until no more air comes out. If it's still overheating bleed it again but with the front of the car jacked up as much as possible to get the bleed screw higher than the rest of the coolant system which will help move all the air to that point.

[ubernasty]

everything you just said i've already done... been doing that all day.

[Reeves]

hmm all I can think of is make sure you have extra coolant in you reservoir tank while you bleed it. Is air actually coming out of the bleed screw? Are you opening the bleed screw with the car on or off?

[ubernasty]

coolant wants to come out of the reservoir and its bubbling up the hose to the reservoir.

Bleeding it with the car running til it gets too hot then shut it off and let it bleed more.

[Reeves]

I wonder if a busted headgasket could cause that.. When I bleed the coolant I usually just let my car get hot and then shut it off, let the air come up to the top for a minute or two, then open the bleed screw and any air in there hisses out like crazy out of the bleed screw until either coolant comes out or there is no more pressure.. Is your bleed screw clogged up maybe?

[ubernasty]

no it bleeds a lot of air i just can't believe how much has come out but still no difference yet.

[Reeves]

You probably just have a shitload of air in your system.. The bleed screw is pretty damn small and your coolant system has a pretty large capacity.. Just keep bleeding till you see coolant that's all you can do. And fill the reservoir up after every bleed.. Also make sure when you fill up the reservoir that the bleed screw is unscrewed as that will push a lot of the air out.. keep it open and keep filling until coolant comes out of the bleed screw or until the reservoir overflows, then heat up the engine and bleed again.

[ubernasty]

Thats what i've been doing.

But now i'm fucked. Now it won't start. i jumped it off another car and it started right up and ran good and i went for a drive around the block with no problems.

When i got back to my house i bled it again then turned it off. Immediately after i went to start it again and nothing happened. I can't even put my windows up now. Wtf is going on with my bucket?

[jlevie]

The failure to start is a bad battery and/or a bad alternator. The difficulty in bleeding the cooling system is poor technique.

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.

[ubernasty]

i read this before and did that... many times.

I'm just going to pick up a new battery first and take all the hoses back off and fill them up slowly with the bleeder open.

I realize my mistake was just hooking everything back up then just pouring coolant in the reservoir on flat ground with the bleeder closed... will post up tomorrow after i do this.

[ubernasty]

Well i feel like a jackass, but at least i figured the problem out. I'm only admiting this so maybe others won't make the same mistake. I've been under a ton of stress not having a car for the past 2 weeks and workin two jobs which made me rush putting everything back together and i didn't put the belts on right. I thought bavauto sent me a wrong belt for the alt cus it was seemingly too big, but now i realize it needs to go around the wp and crank not just the wp.

I won't have time to work on it till i get off work later but i'm sure that it'll bleed out fine now.

FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU U