Bleeding the cooling system

[MTpockets]

Hi all
My first post here but have been reading for awhile.
I have been having heaps of problems with my 2.4 overheating and spewing out coolant and all the usual things and replaced my head gasket and shaved the head. No cracks were found so I may have been lucky. The thing still boiled on the weekend so I have to look at other probs. My rad is fairly new, new water pump, thermostat, cap. I was told I may have an airlock and after reading through heaps on this site after a search, found nothing about bleeding the system. Could someone tell me the best way to remove an airlock, basically bleeding it. Also is there a tap on the side of the block to bleed the cooling system?

Hope I made sense.
cheers
Les

[esson]

Hi Les

Well iam no expert
But i hope this helps its worked on all my other trucks and cars.
1st put some rad flush in it and give her a blast round the block.
Drain it via a bottom hose on the rad not the rad tap which is on most surf rads at the bottom.Taking the bottom pipe off alllows more crap to come out!!
Now take the top hose off get a hosepipe and flush the rad out with lots of water.then poke the hose in the top hose so it flushes the engine.
SORRY FORGOT TO SAY ALLWAYS HAVE THE HEATER ON THE HOT SETTING!!
Now connect all back up.
And fill with hottish water and your antifreze mix,speeds things up when hot.
Start up and let it come to the correct levels,So if pipes are like rock then am sure its air,just undo the top hose untill she hisses NO MORE as it will pop off and make a mess and burn you!!
Just keep doing untill you are happy.
Had a old ford took over a week to get air out.
Well i hope this helps am sure some tech heads would say you take a diffrent pipe off,But its allways worked for me

[JimL]

An old timer call Gemini who used frequent this here bar (enough of that Wild West stuff) always advised that you pull the hose off the tube which carrys coolant from the heater matrix. The 2 tubes regulating the matrix are run parallel to each other just to the left hand side of the top of the engine.

If I remember right, the left hand one is the one carrying coolant away from the heater matrix so (with the engine running) pull the hose off it just beside the aircon unit and be happy that the coolant flows well from it before you refit the hose. That is the only way to know there is no airlock in the heater matrix.

Worked for me!

Before I hit the submit button, the hoses are clipped onto these tubes with ridiculous clips that you must throw into the neighbours roses and fit proper jubilee clips in their place

[Rob]

I must try that heater beeding trick Jim, fed up of mine sounding like a small waterfall evertime I use the heater. Wish Toyota had just put some simple bleeding valves in the hoses like my previous 2 cars.

[Rob]

....Also is there a tap on the side of the block to bleed the cooling system?

Les

If it's like the 3.0, there's a tap to drain the block but I don't think there's any way to bleed it.

[kitesurf_phil]

An old timer call Gemini who used frequent this here bar (enough of that Wild West stuff) always advised that you pull the hose off the tube which carrys coolant from the heater matrix. The 2 tubes regulating the matrix are run parallel to each other just to the left hand side of the top of the engine.

If I remember right, the left hand one is the one carrying coolant away from the heater matrix so (with the engine running) pull the hose off it just beside the aircon unit and be happy that the coolant flows well from it before you refit the hose. That is the only way to know there is no airlock in the heater matrix.

Worked for me!

Before I hit the submit button, the hoses are clipped onto these tubes with ridiculous clips that you must throw into the neighbours roses and fit proper jubilee clips in their place

Thats the first thing I did with mine after changing the coolant. Also see the tech article "Burping the cooling system." I've never used that method on the Surf but it worked for me on my 1971 Volvo 145, which was a b*tch for getting airlocks.

[rubblebags]

Cooling System Bleed Valve

Here's one I made earlier.
Sorry but the pictures have moved around. I think you can work it out alright.

http://www.yotasurf.co.uk/forums/sho...ht=Bleed+Valve

[MTpockets]

Excellent !!!
Thanks guys, that is exactly what I was after.
That valve mod is also brilliant. I have added that link to our www.toyotasurf.asn.au forum if thats ok. I am a moderator there and I am sure others will love that mod, as will I.
Thanks again guys
cheers
Les

[Rob]

Here's one I made earlier.
Sorry but the pictures have moved around. I think you can work it out alright.

http://www.yotasurf.co.uk/forums/sho...ht=Bleed+Valve

Kewl, i obviously missed that post Geoff! Thanks

[TonyN]

I must try that heater beeding trick Jim, fed up of mine sounding like a small waterfall evertime I use the heater. Wish Toyota had just put some simple bleeding valves in the hoses like my previous 2 cars.

hehe, my 4Runner does that.

[ant]

An old timer call Gemini who used frequent this here bar (enough of that Wild West stuff) always advised that you pull the hose off the tube which carrys coolant from the heater matrix. The 2 tubes regulating the matrix are run parallel to each other just to the left hand side of the top of the engine.

If I remember right, the left hand one is the one carrying coolant away from the heater matrix so (with the engine running) pull the hose off it just beside the aircon unit and be happy that the coolant flows well from it before you refit the hose. That is the only way to know there is no airlock in the heater matrix.

Worked for me!

Before I hit the submit button, the hoses are clipped onto these tubes with ridiculous clips that you must throw into the neighbours roses and fit proper jubilee clips in their place

I stuck a garden hose on the right rubber hose with them both detached, engine NOT running and flushd it through. First air came splurting through then water get someone to turn it down to a trickle, stick the left hose back on, detach the right one from the garden hose and stick that one back on.
Now nice hot air coming out back of the cab.

If you can get the right size tubing you can make a join between garden and heater hose. I actually stuck 2 sealant tube nozzles end to end and stuck tapered ends in either hose. Used electrical tape as superglue didn't work. Lasted just long enough to do the job. Also best to get someone else to operate tap, preferably within shouting distance.

[Lewd Lux Lover]

I had no issue with mine but one I read coming up to it was a simple fix.

most of the issue, apparently, is that the heater hoses are ABOVE the filler cap. Cut the bottom off a 2l coke bottle and with some rag to seal it, stick it on top of the rad as a funnel.

Then open all the heater controls to hot hot hot and start it running while you feed in the coolant. Because you now have the high point in the whole system at the filler cap the heater finds it much harder to get locked up and your air comes out the high point rather than get trapped.

Easy to try, maybe works for you? Like I say I have not tried it but it sounds fair as an idea.