Fixed the cooling issue!
12-02-2010, 01:39 PM
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Fixed the cooling issue!
I called Ryan and Derek about the cooling issue I was having with my car -- thermostat wasn't opening. Turns out it was air bubbles. Derek was having the same problem so I figured I'd post this before D goes buying another thermostat. Took 20-30 minutes, now I have heat, fans running, coolant running fine.
Symptoms:
Car overheating suddenly
Heater not blowing hot air -- but would blow hot air if I revved the engine up for a few seconds
Fans not coming on unless A/C is on
Bottom radiator hose significantly cooler than top hose after prolonged driving.
Problem:
Air bubbles in the coolant system. They don't allow the thermostat to open, which causes these problems sometimes.
Quick write-up of what I did:
1) Turn your A/C off and turn the temp guage to full heat.
2) Open radiator cap (should be cold - I did it hot for time reasons -- didn't have time to wait for it, also may bleed faster, people normally say this takes like an hour to do).
3) Fill radiator with distilled water to middle of neck.
4) Open the bleeder valve by the intake manifold. I used a 12mm wrench from the top, but a deep well socket would work too.
5) Turn on the car.
This is where what I did starts to differ from what people normally do. The coolant will not normally start coming out of the bleeder valve until you rev the engine to about 3k rpms for a couple minutes. I didn't have another person so:
6) Work the throttle body cable (I forget what the apparatus is called that the cable works, but basically just work that brass part that swivels with the cable) so that it revs to about 3k. This way you don't need another person.
Do this until water streams out consistently. It took me about 10 minutes of revving it for a minute, waiting 10 seconds, revving, waiting, for the bubbles to stop coming. Don't be surprised if it feels like it is taking a while.
While you are doing this, take breaks every minute or so and top off the radiator (to the bottom or middle of the radiator neck). This keeps the system full and therefore forces the coolant to come out of the bleeder valve.
7) Make sure that the fans have cycled (on/off) at least twice. When this has happened, and a constant stream of coolant starts flowing out (NO bubbles!), tighten the bleeder valve back down.
8) Check your vents inside the car. If it is fixed, they will be blowing hot air out consistently. I would wait inside for a minute or two to make sure it's not just the thermostat being forced open by the revving you were doing.
I didn't do the second bleeder valve, like some people advise, because it is a PITA and a few people have said it is not necessary for bleeding out a troubled system as long as the first valve fixes the problem. Wasn't necessary for me either.
9) Put the radiator cap back on, fill up the coolant resavoir to the max line, and wipe off the area of any spillage.
10) Go for a drive! Over the next couple weeks, check the system and fill accordingly. Wait to fill it until it is cool, unless it is significantly low on coolant.
Good luck Derek, it took me as long to write this up as it did to do the job!
Symptoms:
Car overheating suddenly
Heater not blowing hot air -- but would blow hot air if I revved the engine up for a few seconds
Fans not coming on unless A/C is on
Bottom radiator hose significantly cooler than top hose after prolonged driving.
Problem:
Air bubbles in the coolant system. They don't allow the thermostat to open, which causes these problems sometimes.
Quick write-up of what I did:
1) Turn your A/C off and turn the temp guage to full heat.
2) Open radiator cap (should be cold - I did it hot for time reasons -- didn't have time to wait for it, also may bleed faster, people normally say this takes like an hour to do).
3) Fill radiator with distilled water to middle of neck.
4) Open the bleeder valve by the intake manifold. I used a 12mm wrench from the top, but a deep well socket would work too.
5) Turn on the car.
This is where what I did starts to differ from what people normally do. The coolant will not normally start coming out of the bleeder valve until you rev the engine to about 3k rpms for a couple minutes. I didn't have another person so:
6) Work the throttle body cable (I forget what the apparatus is called that the cable works, but basically just work that brass part that swivels with the cable) so that it revs to about 3k. This way you don't need another person.
Do this until water streams out consistently. It took me about 10 minutes of revving it for a minute, waiting 10 seconds, revving, waiting, for the bubbles to stop coming. Don't be surprised if it feels like it is taking a while.
While you are doing this, take breaks every minute or so and top off the radiator (to the bottom or middle of the radiator neck). This keeps the system full and therefore forces the coolant to come out of the bleeder valve.
7) Make sure that the fans have cycled (on/off) at least twice. When this has happened, and a constant stream of coolant starts flowing out (NO bubbles!), tighten the bleeder valve back down.
8) Check your vents inside the car. If it is fixed, they will be blowing hot air out consistently. I would wait inside for a minute or two to make sure it's not just the thermostat being forced open by the revving you were doing.
I didn't do the second bleeder valve, like some people advise, because it is a PITA and a few people have said it is not necessary for bleeding out a troubled system as long as the first valve fixes the problem. Wasn't necessary for me either.
9) Put the radiator cap back on, fill up the coolant resavoir to the max line, and wipe off the area of any spillage.
10) Go for a drive! Over the next couple weeks, check the system and fill accordingly. Wait to fill it until it is cool, unless it is significantly low on coolant.
Good luck Derek, it took me as long to write this up as it did to do the job!
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Briancastilloo (12-14-2019)
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