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Location:
Sunshine coast, QLD
Registered:
May 2004
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airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 08:13
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Hey im jsut installing a new radiator on my 86, and im wondering, do I jsut connect the pipes up and then fill it with coolant and away I drive or should i be worried about getting an airlock. If so, what the correct way to do this?
thanks
Gavin
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Location:
Sunshine coast, QLD
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 09:14
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bump
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Registered:
May 2004
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 09:39
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Once you have installed your radiator you will be reqired to bleed the cooling system.
If you have never carried out this procedure before then it may be a little tricky.
Air locks form by air getting trapped in an area where there is a high spot in which is, is almost, or is above that of where the radiator is situated.
The best way to bleed the system so that you are fully confident that the air is pretty much completely out of the system, is to disconnect any coolant pipe that runs to your throttle body, given that it is heated ofcourse.
You must then fabricate a stand pipe, which is quite easily made out of a 1.25ltr bottle, which you then apple electrical tape around the mouth of the bottle until it is a fairly secure fit into the radiator mouth.
You must then crimp your overflow feed line so that your coolant does not flow into this and fill it up.
Now that the coolant pipe is off of your throttle body, place the bottle in the radiator and fill it as far as you can with your 50/50 pre mix of coolant, any air that is trapped in the cylinder head will now be forced out of these pipes due to the pessure created by the stand pipe.
Once there is no more air being emitted from these pipes, it is then safe to connect up the pipe back up to your throttle body, add more coolant pre mix to the stand pipe and then start your engine.
Any air that is left in your cooling system will the rise to the surface of the coolant in the stand pipe until your thermo fans cut in, or your thermostat opens(if you have a clutch fan).
Once you are confident that there is no more air within your cooling system, then stand back, remove the stand pipe, let the rest of the coolant drain onto the floor, then put your radiator cap back on then clean up your mess.
Sorry for the long message but I am sure this process will be beneficial to alot of people.
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 09:41
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just stick it in and connect everything up,fill it up, park ito on a slope run it for a while without the cap, make sure the heater is on (ie dash temp control is on RED)... should be fine
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Location:
Rocklea qld
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 09:42
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remove the old raditor....put your heater vent to hot postition so full there is full flow. If you have an air compressor try to blow air into the hoses to remove all water from the block. Try to use the same brand coolant you hand in the car unless u are sure u flushed all the old stuff out( mixing 2 brands of coolant is bad as they react and can cause damage to alloy parts of your engine). put the new rad in and fill it up. leave the car running in one spot until your thermostat opens and your fan kicks in and works. Once the car gets to temperature and all looks good you will be right to go. last thing you wanna do is fill it and go and then u have a problem down the street.
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Registered:
May 2004
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Location:
Rocklea qld
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 09:56
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isolation tap and heater tap are the same, just the later ones are controlled but vacuum. All it does is so when u flush it you can flush through the heater also and not leave anything in there. Or if u flush with the heater tap closed u can pressurise the heater core to much and cause a leak, or leave old coolant in these. Make sure it is always open until u are convinced u have run the car up to temperature properly. i do these everyday and it is always required that they are open.
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Registered:
May 2004
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 10:01
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isolation flap....not tap, like I said 80% of modern cars no longer use heater taps, they have constant flow heater cores.
But if you work on these things everyday, then ofcourse you would know this! 
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Location:
tallahassee FL usOFa
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 13:22
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fill it, drive it(with heater on, water flow, NOT the blower), check it & top up.
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: airlocks...?
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Mon, 18 October 2004 13:53
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| gtr_gaga wrote on Mon, 18 October 2004 18:13 |
Hey im jsut installing a new radiator on my 86,
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sprinters have the heater tap thing
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Registered:
May 2004
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Re: airlocks...?
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Tue, 19 October 2004 08:26
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Cool, I must have missed the car info. Where abouts is it located?
Either way, the procedure thatI provided is the most efficient way, not the easiest but the most efficient way of doing it at home.
The only other way way better is via a quite expensive machine, .... not usually commonplace in the average home. 
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: airlocks...?
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Wed, 20 October 2004 01:41
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next to the brake booster on the firewall, controled by a cable from the dash temp control red = open, blue = closed I spose
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