Coolant Refill Procedure

[fog66]

Evening all, I've just had to change the collant guage sensor and thermostat on my 400 serpentine. Could some kind person run me through the refill procedure please, I lost about a litre from the block.

Cheers.

[Trevor450]

From the bible.

Fill the expansion tank half full and put the lid on. Fill the swirl pot and bleed the radiator while topping up the swirl pot as the level decreases. Put lid back on swirl pot.

With the heater set to hot, run the engine until the fans come on, checking the temperature. When it has cooled down, check the levels in the expansion tank, swirl pot and radiator once again.

[chris1972]

You may find this useful. If you look through my posts, there's one where Goaty tells you how to bleed the system using a large funnel in the swirl pot, with the fronto fothe car raised.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I approached it another way. Here's what I did:

Fill the swirl pot. Half fill the expansion tank. Replace the lids to pressurise. Run the car and keep the heater on hot to allow the coolant to fully circulate. Bleed the air out of the radiator as its running (stop when coolant comes out). It has worked for me, but has taken several attempts to get the air out.

However, when I replaced the coolant, I did the above but allowed the coolant to fully circulate without a thermostat. I then replaced the stat. The coolant that leaked from the thermostat housing when I put the new thermostat in was replenished via the 16mm hose from the heater rail to the intake manifold (driver's side - use a funnel). At the same time, I bled the air using a plastic air syphon / vacuum bottle from the 8mm hose under the plenum on the passenger side, until I got a constant stream of coolant. If you look at the shot below you can see what I mean. The connector on the far side of the plenum will have a piece of 8mm hose attached to it with a screw and jubilee clip in the end. Loosen this off to bleed.

I found the latter a good way of bleeding the airlock. One thing I have learned though, is that all of these cars are different. I'm getting ready to be shot down here though...

Edited by chris1972 on Friday 28th June 23:37

[BIGMIKE1]

I generally use the front end raised with funnel technique and it usually works fine, don't forget heater to hot. I also recheck for the next few days just when the car is cold and normally get a bit more air out of the rad and need a bit more water in the swirl pot till it all settles down again.

[fog66]

All done! Thanks to all for the info. I used the bible method.
Cheers

[rickprice]

I have a slow but constant water leak. I have had the valley gasket replaced already. I have noticed a little fluid near the front of the car, suggesting the rad or pipe is leaking slightly.

Anybody got any ideas how to stop this? Dare I use something like radweld?

Rich

[chris1972]

rickprice said:

I have a slow but constant water leak. I have had the valley gasket replaced already. I have noticed a little fluid near the front of the car, suggesting the rad or pipe is leaking slightly.

Anybody got any ideas how to stop this? Dare I use something like radweld?

Rich

Use a ratchet to tighten all the hoses (not a screwdriver). If you add something like Forte Coolant Conditioner it will turn the coolant bright green/ yellow, which makes it a lot easier to spot leaks.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Forte-Lubricants-Cooling-C...

It is best to sort out the rad, but Kalimex K-Seal is much better than Radweld if you decide to go that way.:
http://www.kalimex.co.uk/our-products/k-seal

Edited by chris1972 on Saturday 29th June 23:06

[fog66]

All done! Thanks to all for the info. I used the bible method.
Cheers

[fausTVR]

rickprice said:

I have a slow but constant water leak. I have had the valley gasket replaced already. I have noticed a little fluid near the front of the car, suggesting the rad or pipe is leaking slightly.

Anybody got any ideas how to stop this? Dare I use something like radweld?

Rich

I had this and I wrongly diagnosed a rad leak. It used to collect under the rad. It turned out to be the expansion tank feed pipe where it joins the tank underneath, which when under pressure would squirt toward the rad, devilishly trying to divert blame.

[rickprice]

Thanks folks, will have a look.

interestingly, my radiator-mounted otter switch failed last week in heavy traffic (oh how we laughed) and when I looked at it, was all corroded. So likely leak from top pipe (directly above said switch) or around otter itself.

Rich