docmirror

I just opened a thread about this recently. I had all the coolant out of my car for rad work, and a new thermo. I did not use the vac system, although I'm sure it works flawlessly. You only opened a small part of your cooling system, so don't think you can use the vac system as it requires the car to be fully drained to start.

Here's what worked for me:1. Gather the coolant and distilled water you want to use. 2. Park the car on a steep incline, nose down or jack the rear of the car very high. The fill must be higher than the top of the front rads, would be nice if it were above the heater core. 3. Open the little burp valve right behind the fill port on the overflow bottle. 4. begin filling with coolant, you will get about 1.5 gal in it(remember, I was completely dry). 5. Start the car, set heater to highest temp, and blower on. 6. As the coolant is drawn into the system by the pump, continue to fill the overflow tank, but do not fill it to the top, as some coolant will come back up while revving. 7. Watch the temp gauge and when it reaches about 180, middle of the gauge, shut the engine off, close the engine lid, and let it heat soak for a few minutes. You may hear gurgling as the coolant flows past the now-opening thermostat. Don't get in a rush. 8. Open the engine lid, check coolant level, and fill as needed but again, don't overfill. 9. Switch to water as the coolant is appropriate for your climate. 10. Watching the gauge, start the engine and run it up to 2500 for a bit, then idle, then 2500, then 4000, then idle. Go check and add water as needed. 11. Check for hot air coming from heater system indicating that you have fluid in the heating system. 12. Go for a spirited drive, monitor the temp gauge. 13. Add coolant as needed over the next day or two. 14. Close the burp valve.

JTT

Thanks Doc! I wondered how the vacuum system would work on a partially full system....clearly it doesn't.