Beretta.net

LoL. Not really, but they can be frustrating in one particular aspect: Bleeding the coolant system of air after a refill such as Radiator replacement, or in this case, my finally telling my TB coolant lines to get fucked.

I've already replaced ONE TB coolant line back in Feb. In the last few days, I noticed a puddle slightly larger than a silver dollar in the driveway of coolant. Frustrating considering I've had this car "dried up" of leaks for 2 months now.

As I got to hunting, I discovered a crack in the OTHER TB coolant line. So I was like "ok. gently caress this, I've had enough of these damn things." Bought brass plugs, used thread tape, removed the TB coolant lines and OH SO GLEEFULLY chucked them over my shoulder!

Refilled my coolant (you'd be amazed how much coolant will spill when you have to remove the TB lines and take them with you to the parts house to get the threads matched. About a gallon) and bleed it out some, let it run for some time with the heater on high.

Took it for a spin and DAMMMNNNN! I shoulda done this MONTHS ago! Car runs nice and cold now. About 30* cooler on average than it ever has. Temp goes up and down of course with the T-stat , but average temp is about 130* (at least at night time so far) and of course up to 195* at low rpm or idle and back down. But at speed about 130* F. I love that crap! My old '90 GTZ ran cold like that and it was a BEAST the colder it ran. Makes sense right?

Now, the downside. I can STILL hear air bubbles making their way to the overflow and my heat is mediocre at best right now. One EXCELLENT thing about this car has always been you didn't have to turn the heat above 2 on the dial or you'd get roasted outta the damn ride! Now on 4 it's mediocre at best.

I believe the issue to be there are still air pockets in the cooling system. Seems like every time you drain a Quad's coolant system, it takes FOREVER to get it air pocket free again. A day or two. My SOHC Quad in the Achieva does the same thing as did the SCX.

That last tidbit is why I TOO hate Quads sometimes.

my buddy has a pistal, i honestly tried to get it from him to shoot the brm z, and if he would have gave it to me, i WOULD have unloaded it on the z.



lol.

don't you want your operating temps above 130? More in the 180-195 range?

i swapped my TB on my 96 Z the other day and i had a couple pieces of line i stuck bolts in the ends and pushed them on to hold it from all leaking out while i changed the TB... my 88 has the lines by passed.

scannerman wrote:don't you want your operating temps above 130? More in the 180-195 range?

It runs about 130* to 160* at high way speeds. If you read above it DOES hit the 195* T-stat mark and then drops back to the 130* mark at night and about 160* daytime.

My heater is NOT the monster it was before now.... But as far as temp goes, these motors LOVE to be cold. They regain a VERY noticeable amount of umpphhh the colder they run. It's a Quad thing.

Not sure why the sudden decrease in heating. I mean I'm STILL hitting the T-stat temp , so either I still have some air in the system, which I doubt (well I do now, read below) or simply removing the TB lines made such a difference in cooling efficiency that the heater isn't getting as warm.

Lovely tidbit btw. Blew my upper radiator hose tonight as I was leaving home. Was about a mile down the road, had to turn around to get something, blew it right at the end of my driveway,lol.

I had just noticed yesterday it was doing the "typical" bubble swell at the T-stat housing clamp and mentioned to the woman it would need to be replaced soon. LoL. I made it happen I guess as it blew less than 24 hours later. I'd noticed it before a month or so ago and had forgotten. Oh, well, $15 and RE-bleed the system AGAIN.......

Sigh.....

Best way i have bled mine, especially now that i have 94+ radiator in my car with the sealed bottle. I fill it up and burp it by hand, and then fill it till the coolant bottle is about to overflow. Start the car and let it idle for about 5-10 mins. When the motor gets warm enough to open the t-stat and it sucks down the bottle, i fill it back up till it stops sucking it down, cap it, then take it around the block. I go somewhere i wont be in the way and i swerve the car back and forth about 10 times. It usually is good enough to shake the air bubbles loose and push them to the tank.

Now i know it sounds silly, but its worked for me everytime i have had to bleed it. Oh and BTW, these cars do not have a heater control valve on the heater core, so turning the heater on, does nothing really. Coolant is flowing thru the heater core at all times! Its just the door that allows the heat in. I should know, i used to flush my coolant thru the heater core

I like having two bleeders on my hybrid... one is right on the thermostat neck going to the radiator and the other is on the coolant bypass tree... so having one on either side makes filling SO easy, like no burp is necessary.

Yeah, and sadly the Quads didnt come with bleeder pipes on the "t-stat housing" till 94 when the put that stupid plastic housing on there. Mine acually took about 2-3 mins squeezing the hoses last time after my test drive to get the last of the bubbles out, but yeah, a bleeder would have been nice. Its my own fault for going to the newer style with the older t-stat housing lol