Timing Belt Complete!.....Coolant question

dskater411 · **Posted:** Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:35 pm

So I just did my timing belt and water pump, went great. Took 13 total hours, I followed beesvillefarm method, I made my own locking pins and my own cam sprocket buster bar. I underestimated the difficulty of getting the cam sprockets re-torqued without the cam gear locking tool though, I ended up renting a universal tool from autozone and it worked great. I was able to do it all without removing the radiator or intercooler. To me the hardest parts were getting the new timing belt over the tensioner, getting the inner gasket lined back up on the timing belt cover, and gathering the courage to start it back up. Highly recommend people to do it themselves, was very rewarding.

Here is my question afterward though: I filled it with coolant, drove it around and got it nice and warm, came back and cracked open the radiator twist vent cap to remove air. Waited 5 minutes and coolant never bubbled out. So I kept cracking it open a little more and more until ah!! Popped off, coolant spraying everywhere. Whoops. Well cleaned up, refilled with coolant and same procedure. I still never saw any coolant bubble out. I did notice that now when climbing hills my temp rises more than it used to so im thinking I do have air in the lines, but I cant seem to get it out with this method. Any tips??
Thanks
David

aliastel · **Posted:** Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:59 pm

The way I have used is to open the bleeder and leave it open while refilling the coolant. Once it's up to the level of the bleeder, I start the engine and let it warm up to operating temp with the bleeder and the coolant tank still open, topping it up as necessary until coolant comes out of the bleeder. Then I close the bleeder and top the coolant tank to the correct level, then put the coolant tank cap back on. Drive it around for a day, then top up cold the next morning.

BigDieselEv · **Posted:** Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:03 pm

There is a bleeder on top of the radiator on the passenger side. Kind of a black plastic hand turn thingy. Some people say it does not work, I've used it with neutral results. I filled my coolant reservoir cold, and monitored it over several days and drive cycles. I would crack the bleeder for good measure before the start up and ensure the coolant recovery tank was topped off. Sometimes I cracked it open cold, sometimes warm, sometimes hot. I just wanted to see if any air bubbles or hot coolant came out. I noticed a little would come out when the coolant was hot. However the highest point in the system is the coolant recovery tank, so *in theory* :lol:

the air pockets should eventually migrate through the system to be expelled at the highest point.

After my belt change, I was driving and low coolant light came on. I just topped off over several days, messed with the radiator bleeder and everything seemed fine.

Another thought is to do an extended hot idle with the pressure cap off the reservoir tank. This is to encourage any air trapped in the system to be pushed up to the tank. Now keep in mind that the system is not going to be a closed loop system of 16 or so PSI and it may take a while for a idling engine to create enough heat to circulate coolant and attempt to expel air at it's highest point.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Mon Oct 28, 2013 7:32 am

Park it on a steep uphill incline or ramp as others have suggested on this list. Open cap and radiator vent, any trapped air should be able to vent out completely, even the heater core...

Good luck

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Mon Nov 04, 2013 2:23 pm

I pulled a vacuum on the tank with a shop vac after the steep slope trick, and the bleed the hose across the top ofmthe VC trick, and that got all the air out.

65Corvair · **Posted:** Mon Nov 04, 2013 9:06 pm

I drained some coolant to install my inline t-stat. To refill it, I drove my jeep onto some wheel ramps, opened the valve on top of the radiator, filled the cooling system through the coolant tank, and then shut the valve on the radiator once some coolant came out. Then I poured in the rest of the coolant that I had drained. The next two days before I drove to work, while the engine was cold(jeep parked on level ground), I opened the valve on top of the radiator to purge some air from the system. I haven't had any issues since. My heat is always hot and the temp gauge never goes above the half mark.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:22 pm

Just finished the timing belt and water pump replacement Saturday, had it up on the incline ramps and filled the coolant reservoir with the high priced G-05 HOAT and distilled water mixture with the radiator vent open till it ran out of the vent. I then closed the radiator vent and continued to fill the reservoir till it was at the maximum mark. Checked it today after driving it to work with heater on and then to town, all is well, level was slightly above the normal full mark this afternoon when I checked it and temperature ran just below the halfway mark the whole time while driving today... I am happy :-)r

Timing Belt Complete!.....Coolant question

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