Coolant bleed weird question

[JoeyBones]

Ok, so I did the whole mess under the intake thing,, and because I'm special I didnt drain coolant prior. I replaced the coolant tube and all. (yes picture a fairly large mess, luckily caught by an old car cover) Now, I added coolant, started the car up, and it doesnt seem to have an overheat issue (havent driven it, but just running in the garage) but I no fluid comes out of the bleed screw either....It seems that there is enough fluid in the overflow, but Im not sure.

How high should the coolant level be while running?
Do i need to continue to add until fluid comes out of the bleed screw?
Am I special or lucky or perhaps I'm doing something wrong?

[3bvert]

thres lots of good info on bleeding the system, if your not familiar wiht m42 site, it has tons of great diy info

but you are not done bleeding yet, if you havent got water coming out yet, then you still hae a bunch of air in there

[xwill112x]

take it for a spin and it will get hot FAST!

i thought the same thing as you way back when.

[JoeyBones]

well damnit... ok, so basically add to cold line (while cold) run with heat blowing, bleed screw open, and rad cap off until fluid comes out bleed screw?

Might be stupid, but how do i know when to add more coolant? i let it run and it almost empties the tank completely, but cut the motor and it goes back up to near full....

Sorry to ask when there is info out, but was hoping for info specific to my situation since this weekend is my deadline for getting the car out of the garage it's in!

[xwill112x]

park car on a hill with the front higher than the rear, maybe put it on jackstands.. turn heat on wide open, and open bleed screw and keep r3v's up at like 3k for a while. Steam and air should come out after a while. Repeat until cars coolant is topped off, and only coolant comes out of the bleeder.

[JoeyBones]

should there be any in the reservoir while it's running?

[KenC]

Yes. Definitely. If you don't get coolant out of the bleed screw it's too low. Make sure the thermostat is open before you start to bleed it too

[Eecen]

Take off Rad cap, remove Bleed screw, turn heat to full

Add Coolant to cold line

Start car

Fill to cold line

Wait for thermostat and lines to fill

Fill to cold line

Finger the throttle till coolant comes out the bleeder, nothing crazy: 1500-2000 -ish

Hold engine speed, and watch the overflowing coolant.

Continue until you see a straight, constant flow of coolant coming out, ie no bubbles/air

Re-fill to cold line and replace cap and bleed screw

Drive around and watch your temp

Doesn't have to be on a slope, at least not in my experience.





And....there is a PDF of the e36 Bently manual floating around somewhere on here, it covers the m42.

[JoeyBones]

I think I got it now. I finally got a stream coming out of the bleed screw. I'll keep an eye on things for a while until I know its good for sure. I cant drive too much anyways with no seats!

[KenC]

You need liquid coolant coming out of the bleed screw. If you have steam, the coolant level is too low.

[3bvert]

Take off Rad cap, remove Bleed screw, turn heat to full

Add Coolant to cold line

Start car

Fill to cold line

Wait for thermostat and lines to fill

Fill to cold line

Finger the throttle till coolant comes out the bleeder, nothing crazy: 1500-2000 -ish

Hold engine speed, and watch the overflowing coolant.

Continue until you see a straight, constant flow of coolant coming out, ie no bubbles/air

Re-fill to cold line and replace cap and bleed screw

Drive around and watch your temp

Doesn't have to be on a slope, at least not in my experience.





And....there is a PDF of the e36 Bently manual floating around somewhere on here, it covers the m42.

dont forget to watch your temp, even when sitting still and bleeding

some of the old thermostats, and now my new one, has a small hole at the top. you put it in so it is at the top

it allows a small amount of fluid/air exchange, even before the thermo opens

[JoeyBones]

You need liquid coolant coming out of the bleed screw. If you have steam, the coolant level is too low.

i said stream...not steam :)

i'll keep you updated once i can actually drive it.

[KenC]

i said stream...not steam :)

i'll keep you updated once i can actually drive it.

Haha read too fast I guess. Make sure that the heater is turned all the way up when you're bleeding too. But DON'T turn the vent fan on... you just want the heater core valve to be open. Some good high RPM revs can usually blast any air bubbles out too. If you have a stream of hot coolant coming out of the bleed screw, you're probably OK. The thermostat was open before you bled it, right?

[KVF]

Jacking up the front drivers side of the car helps a ton. It aids the fluid flowing from the res into the system, which in turn helps to force the air pockets to cycle up to the bleeder vavle.