Yummybud924

I just took my rad out and put it back in. topped up the coolant. bled the car as best as I could. up on ramps, cap off and bleed valve off until car was hot and coolant came out.

the heater blows hot now, but i had the cap off and the car running for about 15-20 minutes and the temp was about in the middle fans came on and then coolant started gushing out of the expansion tank with the cap off.

is this normal? with the cap on the coolant also rises a lot when hot. i had filled it to the max line I believe. and when the car cools a bit it goes back down.

krystar

coolant expands as it gets hot. as long as there's no bubbling or oil and the car's not overheating. it's normal.

austin944

If the cap is on before the engine gets hot and the coolant level rises a lot (enough that it starts reaching the cap when it started at or below the max level), then you either have air in the system or there's some other issue.

mytrplseven

this is a closed loop system and should be bled with the overflow cap on after the engine gets to operating temp (to trip the thermostat). Have you ever had an old US made car that was hot and when you pulled the radiator cap off, it blew up in your face? Same theory.

GTSilver944

PV=nRT

Yummybud924

so I have to bleed it with the coolant cap on? I did a few earch and a few people were saying to make sure to have the cap off. wouldn't coolant spray all over the place with the cap on and the bleeder removed?

I ble the system with the cap off an raised on ramps and bleeer removed until coolant started coming out in a steady stream. I did this a few times. also led it warm up until temp went to almost mid mark and fans came on then bleed same way.

I don't know if all the air got out. so far i've only driven it on short trips like 10-15 minutes driving and temp just gets to mid mark and heater blows hot. so I assume it's fine. but i'm worried about air pockets warping the head or blowing my headgasket.

austin944

There's probably not a "right" way to bleed. You can remove the bleeder but that just makes a mess IMO. I just crack it open a little until no more air comes out and close it when I start getting a steady stream of coolant, and repeat that process until no more air. I would think you'd have to run the engine with no coolant in order to damage the engine.

Yummybud924

well it's seems okay heater blows hot and engine is staying cool and not really going above the mid mark on the temp gauge so I think it should be okay.

River

Right way to bleed:

1. Grab beer
2. Turn key on position II, and turn on the heater to max, and to 4
3. Fill to appropriate levels
4. Replace and leave on cap
5. Unscrew bleeder screw
6. Using turkey baster, shoot down water into the bleeder hole. Wait. You'll see lots of air bubbles. At this point, I like to put my knee on the bumper and bounce the car several times. Repeat until you see zero tiny air bubbles and the bleeder screw has excess dripping off to the side.
7. Replace screw.
8. Start engine, check temps.
9. Finish beer.