burping coolant

[Bluefire16]

Ok, so i have been told by a couple people on here, to burp my system, put the car on a incline, start the car with the radiator cap off, let it warm up....once its warm it will open the t stat and i will see the coolant start to run through the radiator cap area. Then continue to fill as needed.


Welll i did this and let my car run for like 20 mins. It was warm, bubbles come out for awhile, but the coolant never ran, it just filled...and then overflowed a bit.

So could it just be my BRAND NEW T-stat is not opening? And how long should the air take to get out about?

 

[Misterbeechy]

oh wow i need to kno this too.. i think i have air pockets in mine.. i have times where i have coolant sometimes and then i dont.. and next day i do again :/

 

[kimcheefists]

Our coolant system bleeds itself. All you need to do is fill through the "radiator cap" and then fill the overflow tank. After a cycle or two of the engine warming up, check the over flow tank and fill as required. Keep checking the coolant level in the overflow tank until the level stays consistent.

 

[Bluefire16]

^^ Then why have i like 10 people tell me to burp the system this way? People that have 10 sec DSM's?

Needless to say, i still dont understand why i dont see the water running when i open my radiator cap

 

[kimcheefists]

^^ Then why have i like 10 people tell me to burp the system this way? People that have 10 sec DSM's? I will take their judgment.... no offense.

Then do it the way they tell you. Since they have 10 sec DSM's, they must know everything.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Then do it the way they tell you. Since they have 10 sec DSM's, they must know everything.

+1

Just brilliant. That's a perfect way to stop assumptions.

Kids, open your books and read very closely. All of this information has been covered before. You CAN burp your system by leaving the cap off and starting the car and as the Tstat opens it will drain coolant. Add as needed.

Or... do it the easy way and follow what the book says.

 

[Bluefire16]

^^ alright for the 3rd time. I said THE WATER IS NOT FLOWING. It just builds up...so the T-STAT is not OPENING

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

The T stat only opens when the engine reaches a certain temperature. Maybe you have the car leaning so far on that hill that the temperature is sliding down the hill?

In all seriousness, are you allowing the car to run long enough to reach proper operating temperature? Most Thermostats don't open until somewhere around 190-200 Degrees.

 

[Bluefire16]

....im sure 20 mins is enough time... and it was also at "normal" temp for at least 10

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Okay, then you need to do as the book says. Fill it, start it, fill the reservoir, get in the car and turn the heat on full blast. Watch the temp and check the reservoir level frequently.

 

[Bluefire16]

Im not sure what turning the heat on will do considering i dont have it anymore.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Im not sure what turning the heat on will do considering i dont have it anymore.

Erm, welp.. excuse me for assuming that you had heat, presuming that you hadn't stated otherwise. I won't elaborate on why you would turn on the heat as that would be a complete waste of time, just like this very sentence I'm typing!

So, in short....Do as the book says.

 

[my dreamt dsm]

I think what they meant is knob on defrost, heat knob on high and then turn on heater. It opens up the heater core. When it is open it'll help circulate the system. I did this and dsm wisemen also does this. If you open the cap you'll see fluid drop every time the fan kicks in also including the work of the thermostat.

 

[OneBad2L]

What temp tstat do you have? With the air temps up in the north east the last couple days 20 mins at idle may not be getting you into the +temp that it may need to open up.

Our systems will bleed and burp themselves but to each his own. Theres nothing wrong with making sure.

 

[Bluefire16]

^^ I just drove about 10 mins to blockbuster, normally the car sits just under halfway. Well it rose exactly half way after the drive.

On the way home it got hotter, didnt go as hot as 3/4 though.

Thats about a 20 min drive.... A little bit of coolant went into the bottle.

Its stock...180 temp, its been 32* here tonight.

So like i was asking before, do you guys think that the thermostat is just not opening?

Also i currently only have 1 fan but that didnt kick on, a fuse is blown

 

[drmuelr]

Ok, so i have been told by a couple people on here, to burp my system, put the car on a incline, start the car with the radiator cap off, let it warm up....once its warm it will open the t stat and i will see the coolant start to run through the radiator cap area. Then continue to fill as needed.

Okay, none of us have any idea why you, specifically, need to burp your system. This should only be necessary if you've drained your system, and the existing air pockets in your system are so bad that your water pump can't scavenge sufficiently enough to get the water to flow, which, in Eclipses, is a pretty tough situation to achieve.

The radiator cap is damn near the highest point in the entire cooling system on this car, so most air naturally wants to escape through it anyways. The only trouble spot you MIGHT have is air pockets along the top of the radiator, which you can eliminate by filling up through the radiator cap, grabbing hold of the car, and rocking it side to side a few times. Once those bubbles stop, you're golden, fill as necessary, and put the cap on. The g-forces from turning, starting, and stopping will do more to dislodge any remaining air pockets than parking on an incline will.

Like everybody on this post has tried telling you, Eclipses burp themselves, unless you have major air pockets.

This is why you're running in circles with this, and how the system burps itself: a vast majority of the residual air in the system gets displaced by water from the pump. Since all of the coolant in the system flows under the radiator cap, all the air has a chance to "escape" here, since bubbles tend to float up. With the radiator cap on, air will accumulate under the cap until the expanding water (from being heated) builds enough pressure to open the cap, in which case, air is the first thing forced into the overflow tank, then coolant. Since this tube is pretty narrow, the bubbles won't flow back to the top, but rather be forced downstream by the expanding coolant. One the air enters the reservoir, it floats to the top, and your system is primed.

Welll i did this and let my car run for like 20 mins. It was warm, bubbles come out for awhile, but the coolant never ran, it just filled...and then overflowed a bit.

So could it just be my BRAND NEW T-stat is not opening? And how long should the air take to get out about?

The coolant won't look like it's flowing, if that's what your talking about. If the upper or lower radiator hose is hot, then the thermostat is doing it's job. It'll block off the hot water to the radiator until it opens.

If in doubt, watch your temperature gauge. If your pump is working, then the temp needle (on mine) will climb to almost exactly half when warm. (Keep in mind, this is all stock, your needle may sit somewhere else while at normal temperature) If the needle climbs up significantly, then drops down, climbs, drops... so on so on, you probably have a bad thermostat, or the wrong one.

On a related note to anybody else, do any of y'all happen to know what the part is called that the radiator cap attaches to? I just cracked mine. Searching online helps immensely when you have the right part name.

 

[Bluefire16]

Ok so my system is "burped" then, what could be the cause of the temp fluctuating? Are fans that important?

 

[drmuelr]

Ok so my system is "burped" then, what could be the cause of the temp fluctuating? Are fans that important?

Yes, immensely. They don't really come in to play while you're moving, but while the car is stationary, or moving slowly and idling, the fan turns on to draw air through the radiator.

The radiator works by absorbing heat from the coolant running through it, then air flowing through the radiator absorbs that heat. The colder the air, the more effective the radiator is. Once the air is heated up, it will continue to soak up heat, but more and more slowly, up until the point where the air is the same temperature as the radiator, which is when the radiator won't work at all. This is remedied by the car's forward motion or a fan, which pushes (or pulls, in the case of a fan) the hot air out, and allows more cold air in. So, if the car isn't moving, and the fan doesn't turn on, the radiator can't get rid of any heat. If there isn't a continuous supply of cool air, then the radiator can't do it's job. Overheating is the extreme result.

So, if your car starts getting hot after idling for a few minutes, then cools down when you start driving, then heats up again when you stop, and you KNOW your fan doesn't turn on, I'd start there.

You could very well have a fan that doesn't kick on, AND a bad thermostat. This is all troubleshooting. Figure out, check, and if necessary, fix anything that could be causing the symptoms, starting with the easiest. In this case one problem could be leading to another, or making an existing problem worse. I'd rather replace a fuse than have to monkey with a thermostat any day of the week... Unless I'm feeling particularly froggy.

 

[Bluefire16]

Currently i only have 1 slim fan in place (my others wouldnt fit wit the 20g) the fuse went out and i need to replace it. So i guess we will see how the car runs after i get the fan in place.

Well good news... i think i found another air leak, so i tightened the clamp. Then rigged up my old coolant bottle to fit now.

Put that back on, filled it up. And wired the 1 fan. After 20 min drive it stayed at normal temp, just went a to half way when i parked it (way better than before, so it went up 1mm on the gauge) So im thinking with that, if i get another fan ill be fine.

 

[DSM1G90]

When I "burp" a system, I drill a .050 hole in the T-stat flange so the air in the system can escape with no problem (which this trick really helps those with the T-stat that is mounted vertically..)

A T-stat also helps get the heat off the block by slowing down the coolant flow so the coolant can absort the heat much faster from the block.. (and no "water-wetter" is needed..if you use the proper 50/50 mix).

It'd help also if the cooling system is totally flushed out from time to time, including the radiator.

 

[Bluefire16]

I just flushed the radiator, completely drained it and ran a bunch of water through it till it ran clean.

Anyhow... my temps seem to be fine driving, its just when the car idles at a stop light. It is going up a couple mm now. So its at halfway and a little over at times.

This is still to hot, it seemed to have gotten worse after my fmic install last year. But worse and worse recently. Im doing a compression test today and we will see what happens.

Im expecting decent numbers again after the comp test, so lets just say compressions good. Im not burning coolant, its not leaking, i fix all air leaks/holes.

Whats left? Just the rad not getting enough air? I plan on putting 2 slim fans inside and a puller on the outside of the rad.

Oh and im still wondering why my coolant just fills up and spills out of the rad cap. I thought it should flow when it gets warm? No one really answered this for me.

 

[kimcheefists]

How do you know that it's too hot? You DO realize that our stock gauges (boost, temp, and fuel) aren't accurate at all. Are you confirming this with either an aftermarket water temperature gauge or Link? My stock water temperature gauge sits a little over half (in between half and 3/4) when the engine is up to temperature.

 

[ramsack]

I, too, just fill the car up, let it run, and keep filling it as the temperature goes up. I'd rather keep coolant in the car and keep an eye on it than race the engine to 3,000 with the cap on and maybe overheat the head. The heater core on these cars don't have a valve. There is constant flow through them regardless of the position of the temperature knob. These cooling systems aren't hard to remove air from. It should only need to be filled once, checked, and then just add a tiny bit. If you keep getting air in the system then your cap is probably shot and just sucking in air when the car cools down instead of coolant.

 

[Bluefire16]

I am purely going based on the way my car handled and idled before. I did not modify my car for 2 years and it was my DD. And never saw temps this high on normal driving. At the moment, i do not have an actual reading of the temps.

But the question is, why is it still just filling up over the top of the rad cap when i warm the car up? I thought it shouldnt do this...

 

[ramsack]

Coolant grows in volume as it gets warmer. That's normal. If it instantly bubbles over as soon as the car starts then maybe you have a head gasket issue.