Overheated, low coolant, advice.

[haydn callow]

I don't know about any of the other methods but the main thing that sold the See Saw method to me is the fact that no coolant is spilt and if you premix the mixture you know exactly what strength is in there when you have finished.

[bigdaddycain]

I can't comment there,i've never used that method, so i don't really know,does it involve replacing the bung in the bleed hose whilst the bleed hose is in the air? i.e without coolant emerging from the bleedhose?

[dandywarhol]

The in's and out's of the other methods have slipped my mind alan... Does the see-saw method differ from the method in the manual?

Yep, mainly in that the see saw method is with the expansion tank cap ON - the factory method is with it OFF to aid bleeding.

Another misunderstanding is that the heaters have to be ON - don't need to be - they're always on and coolant is always flowing through the heater matrices so the position of the heater switch is unimportant - all it does is direct hot/cold air.

A 3rd misunderstanding is that the a/c should be on - rubbish, it should be off (as the manual says) otherwise the radiator fans will come on and the coolant will take ages to heat up and open the 'stat

Still - if any method works other than the factory advice then you've been lucky

[haydn callow]

What I do is ... once I'm happy that the stat is open/bottom hose hot/all air expelled....(during bleeding the bleed tube is up inside a large funnel with coolant in) (this funnel is raised/lowered never being allowed to empty ..See Saw).... when finished ..raise funnel...this causes it to empty...coolant flows back to header tank....Pull bleed hose out of funnel just before it is empty...stick thumb over end (wear gloves) ..then...take thumb off allowing coolant to flow till level in tank is about 1 cm above full and quickly bung the bung in. Next morning the coolant will be as near as dammit to the correct full line. All the ones I've done remain at that level cold...no topping up required.
All that is done with the pressure cap OFF.

[bigdaddycain]

The in's and out's of the other methods have slipped my mind alan... Does the see-saw method differ from the method in the manual?

Yep, mainly in that the see saw method is with the expansion tank cap ON - the factory method is with it OFF to aid bleeding.

Another misunderstanding is that the heaters have to be ON - don't need to be - they're always on and coolant is always flowing through the heater matrices so the position of the heater switch is unimportant - all it does is direct hot/cold air.

Thanks for explaining the main differences in brief alan.

I advocate for both heaters to be on i must admit...as that way it shows that there isn't an airlock between the matrix', if there is a good solid heat coming from both heaters, then there is no airlock between them...kinda narrows it down a bit.

[dandywarhol]

I've added a couple of winks to my last post Haydn The method you use sounds like it should work.

Ste - good point about the "heater on" tip - I reckon most of the airlock problems stem from the heater matrices..............

[bigdaddycain]

What I do is ... once I'm happy that the stat is open/bottom hose hot/all air expelled....(during bleeding the bleed tube is up inside a large funnel with coolant in) (this funnel is raised/lowered never being allowed to empty ..See Saw).... when finished ..raise funnel...this causes it to empty...coolant flows back to header tank....Pull bleed hose out of funnel just before it is empty...stick thumb over end (wear gloves) ..then...take thumb off allowing coolant to flow till level in tank is about 1 cm above full and quickly bung the bung in. Next morning the coolant will be as near as dammit to the correct full line. All the ones I've done remain at that level cold...no topping up required.
All that is done with the pressure cap off.

Thanks for that Haydn, very informative.

So the bleedhose is bunged whilst the level is a centimtre or so above the full level in the expansion tank, then the following day the level is near as dammit bang on the "full" line?

[haydn callow]

I also do a heater check....

[haydn callow]

Thats correct BDC

[bigdaddycain]

I've added a couple of winks to my last post Haydn The method you use sounds like it should work.

Ste - good point about the "heater on" tip - I reckon most of the airlock problems stem from the heater matrices..............

Thanks alan, i reckon it's indicative of a potential problem if a good solid heat isn't achieved by both heaters simultaneaously,we had that issue with pat mc kenna's bongo, (rear heaters were cold) turned out the stat wasn't opening as it should.

[bigdaddycain]

I also do a heater check....

For the same reason as i stated above Haydn?

[haydn callow]

Dandy...I would think the pressure cap HAS to be OFF otherwise the coolant wouldn't flow backwards/forwards.(see saw)...as the bleed bung is out there can be no reason to have the cap on.......no pressure weather it's on or off.

[dandywarhol]

Dandy...I would think the pressure cap HAS to be OFF otherwise the coolant wouldn't flow backwards/forwards.(see saw)...as the bleed bung is out there can be no reason to have the cap on.......no pressure weather it's on or off.

Agreed - I'm just quoting Peg Leg Pete's info in the factsheet stating that the cap is ON

[Peg leg Pete]

Yes Steve it is the see-saw method that I use, I do run the cap off, not good at explaining things in writing so had better amend factsheet I hope this thread is not going to turn in to another epic, as long as the method you choose to use works, thats what counts

[francophile1947]

Yes Steve it is the see-saw method that I use, I do run the cap off, not good at explaining things in writing so had better amend factsheet I hope this thread is not going to turn in to another epic, as long as the method you choose to use works, thats what counts

It might be an epic Pete, but at least it's a friendly one