Coolant Reservoir Problem Or Not.

[starwarz]

After changing my radiator and changing coolant i noticed when the engine is cooled it draws coolant from the reservoir tank leaving it empty or almost empty and when it runs it pushes in to the reserviour to somewhere inbetween empty and full. Use to just stay put on full, what the go here ? radiator has coolant so why is it drawing so much from the reserviour when cool and bringing it back when it starts running.

[Got a Pulsar]

My inner Noob is telling me you still have air in the cooling system and you need to Bleed it out.

But that's just my Noob.

[starwarz]

i have tried bleeding it three times through the bleeder valve at the highest point of the engine, i just leave it open during idle and watch the air buble out till it stops.......i have done it 3 times for about 10 minutes each time now. I toped up the Reservoir again so hopefully it stays this time.

Edited August 5, 2012 by starwarz

[Speedchef]

Did you have the heater on full when bleeding it to also include the water (and possabably the air) in the heating system.

[starwarz]

yep i remebered half way through about the heater, turned it on and noticed an increase in the amount of air bubbles coming out as soon as i did that. Just went downstairs coolant seems to be staying in the Reservoir this time around hopefully enough air has left the system since my last attempt at letting the air out.

Edited August 5, 2012 by starwarz

[GoHard]

Im never gonna touch that bleeder again. It makes a friggin mess. Coke bottle trick ftw. Failproof

[starwarz]

Your telling me just came home, the reserviour tank was empty for fuark sake....take off the bleeder (do not open when hot) i did anyway nothing attacked me when i opened it. Idle for a few minutes, still air in there. Followed by Revving its nuts off about 5 times followed by streams of coolant full of air......good enough the coolant reserviour began filling up as a result. Whats this cokebottle trick i hear your supposed to jam the bottom of it into something.

Edited August 6, 2012 by starwarz

[GoHard]

Yeah. Just seal a bottle in the radiator and keep filling so its above the level of the bleeder (highest point) run the engine and it will bubble down. Just keep topping up until it cant take any more.

Make sure you block the overflow somehow tho, or it just flows in there rather the radiator.

[starwarz]

ill give it a go tommorow, im sick of using the bleeder...cant belive my system has so much air in it lol.

[jjman]

Iv come up with an easy way to make sure the car is bled properly the first time, everytime.

1: jack that front end up in the air as high as possible. see pic 1

2:crimp/tie off the hose that runs from the radiator cap too the overflow bottle (or the little bottle setup in step 3 will just drain into the overflow)

3:cut a 600ml bottle in half, stick the mouth into the radiator cap opening and tape it to seal it with a good tape (iv found wide electrical tape the best for getting a seal so it doesnt leak coolant while its bleeding). see pic 1

4:fill the bottle up 1 inch with coolant (keep about 1-2 inch filled)

5: start car (with heater on full bore in the car) and idle /rev to build heat and start the bubbles coming out.

6: put a couple of socks or rag around the bleed screw and open it to let air out (see pic 2).

When the coolant starts to get hotter and the air has largely gone then it will piss coolant out a fair bit. At this point just screw the bleed screw in a half turn or so and you will see that cooland and air can still bubble/ooze out without the cooland pissing out everywhere (see pic 2). After a while itl just be coolant so close it up and only periodically open it to the 'ooze point' n u will find a little bit of air might have accumulated there again.

7: let the car idle till the system is well up to temp and the thermostat is up to temp and fully open. Give the car a good rev at this time to really make sure uv bled the air.

8: switch off car

9: release the tie/crimp on the overflow line n the coolant left in ur bleed bottle stuck in the radiator will run into the overflow bottle.

10: remove ur bleed bottle.

11: seal the bleed screw propely and put the radiator cap on.

Edited August 6, 2012 by jjman

[scotty nm35]

ill give it a go tommorow, im sick of using the bleeder...cant belive my system has so much air in it lol.

There are other places the air could come from, one being the head gasket/combustion chamber. If you keep getting air in a sealed system you most probably have a leak or worse.

Is there a local mechanic you can take it to for a carbon and pressure test on the coolant system if it doesn't bleed properly next time?

[starwarz]

Got my mate to come over his got a few more years experince with messing around with his cars then me. Noticed radiator top pipe was like a sponge when running and when squeezing the coolant will flow to the reservoir. He suggested new radiator cap, so i went bunning and the dude there got me a CPC one. Culprite........BUSTED radiator cap, soon as it went in life returned to the system the top hose was surging once again. Would be following JJ mans epic write up this time around, since the systems got pressure unlike before need to wait for it cool down this time the bleed process should be a success.

[Got a Pulsar]

So it was a dud cap? Good to hear you sorted it.

Did you get 1 that is the same pressure rating?

Apparently it's not good to get a high pressure cap as it can put the cooling system under undue strain causing problems.

Also make sure the overflow hose has clamps holding it on to ensure there is pressure.

Mine was evaporating fluid from here and my overflow wouldn't syphon cause it wasn't sealing.

[starwarz]

the original is 0.9. The CPS cap does not really tell you anything. But i had a look on the website and the model i got is rated at 13 PSI. So 1 bar = 14.504 psi. .9 bar ~ 13 psi so cap is all good. The repco guy seemed to know straight away as soon as he saw it. The new cap has got a lot more spring to it, the older nissan one probally never been changed as it squeeks a lot and has to be pushed down quite a bit to get it moving. Looks likes nothing wrong with it but dont take that as its alright the internals bit is truly shagged. Hopefully its all sorted i just bleed it until it was just mostly coolant flowing out, time will tell but the systems got pressure once again so one problem sovled. I tightned up the hose on the overflow as well make sure nothing escape. Degreased the engine to looked horrible with coolant stains.

[jjman]

ahahaha, it was after i wrote up the bleed number above that i went to bed n thought 'wonder if he has ruled out the radiator cap yet?, forgot to ask..."

hahah, good to hear u worked it out. Iv been thru the radiator cap debarcle myself before...

[starwarz]

Best $14 dollars i spent on my car, its been a good amount of time no coolant loss