how to get rid of an air lock in cooling system

[peter88]

i was told that you cannot just leave the radiator cap off on starlets to get rid of an air lock you have to use a funnel to pour the water into the radiator to prevent an airlock, is this true or anybody got any ideas ta?

 

[AdamB]

:haha: Who told you that?

I think you may have been taken for a ride mate. If you did that the chances are you would blow the headgasket and bow/crack the cylinder head. You would have to keep running to your kettle to boil water as you can't put cold water into a hot metal surface as it will dramatically cool it.

As far as I'm aware theres only 2 methods to bleed air out of a radiator system.
1- Some radiators have a bleed nipple, the starlets don't.
2- Leave the rad cap off and run the engine until the fan kicks in, air will rise to the top and the water will start pushing out the radiator, then put the cap back on. Then put the heaters on hot to allow any remaining air to circulate, then bleed the system again.

 

[starletburkie]

lol

 

[Texx]

I don't think it's possible to get an air lock in a Starlet cooling system?! I've never found it an issue anyway.

• Fill the rad to the top
• Fill the expansion tank to the maximum mark
• Set the heater to hot
• Run the engine with the rad cap off
• Top up the rad if the coolant level drops and then install the rad cap
• Install the rad cap
• Keep an eye on the temperature gauge and heat from the heater
• Once the heater is blowing hot air, switch it to cold
• Let the engine run until the rad fan kicks in at least twice
• Shut the engine off and let it cool down for several hours
• Recheck the coolant level in the rad and expansion tank, top up if necessary

Few things to note whilst doing this:

• Once the rad cap has initially been installed, DO NOT remove it again until the engine has been left to cool down
• Do not drive the car until the engine has been run up, left to cool down and the coolant level has been checked and topped up if necessary
• If the heater does not get hot then either you have a coolant circulation issue or the heater matrix is blocked
• If the cooling system overheats or boils over then you have a coolant circulation issue, the thermostat isn't opening or the rad fan isn't coming on when it should
• If the cooling system pressurises and forces coolant out past the rad cap before the engine has warmed up then it's likely you have a head gasket problem

 

[Silvia270r]

Try it with the front of the car jacked up and remove the rad cap then let it run, This will help the air to escape!

 

[peter88]

Thanks guys, trouble is my heater does not work, it does not even blow any air, my thermostat was changed 2 weeks ago. Could having no heaters be one of my problems, a mechanic told me the head gasket does not seem to have gone