Coolant

[Bogmonster40]

I blew a hose last Thursday and have to re-fit the pipe and obviously re-fill my coolant. I have watched the YouTube guide 3 times so know what I have to do.
My problem is I don't have anyone who can help me do this today - So my question is what will the consequences be if I do not get all the air out of my system.
Is it going to just be an in-efficent heating system, or is there something more serious I should be aware of so wait till Monday when someone can actually help me do this ??

[Driver+Passengers]

You risk an airlock leading to the engine overheating, possibly leading to the head cracking. Worst case.

You get air out using hand-operated see-saw while cold and then while idling. This will get *most* air out.

You then do a foot-operated see-saw with the accelerator to get the engine hot and stat open. This will get *most* of the *rest* of the air out, but is absolutely CRUCIAL as you're purging the radiator circuit through the stat. If you don't get this far, you're risking too much.

Being pedantic, you'll probably never get all the air out during a bleed - there will be little bits left over in heater(s) and head. Through driving, this will mix with the coolant/turbulence and collect in the header tank, effectively dropping the coolant level. That's why you keep an eye on the header tank after a bleed and top up if necessary.

You can do it single-handedly, helps if you have an LCA. But if it's your first time, it helps to have help.

Prefer to not drive it for a couple of days, rather than do an incomplete bleed which you go back and finish off later.

That's what I reckon, anyway.

[mikeonb4c]

I've done two coolant changes/bleeds on my own. A bit scary rushing between header tank (to top it up) and bleed pipe bung but it went off ok. Wear gloves with marigold gloves over to avoid scalding risk. Or do as D&P suggests, and wait.

[Northern Bongolow]

You risk an airlock leading to the engine overheating, possibly leading to the head cracking. Worst case.

You get air out using hand-operated see-saw while cold and then while idling. This will get *most* air out.

You then do a foot-operated see-saw with the accelerator to get the engine hot and stat open. This will get *most* of the *rest* of the air out, but is absolutely CRUCIAL as you're purging the radiator circuit through the stat. If you don't get this far, you're risking too much.

Being pedantic, you'll probably never get all the air out during a bleed - there will be little bits left over in heater(s) and head. Through driving, this will mix with the coolant/turbulence and collect in the header tank, effectively dropping the coolant level. That's why you keep an eye on the header tank after a bleed and top up if necessary.

You can do it single-handedly, helps if you have an LCA. But if it's your first time, it helps to have help.

Prefer to not drive it for a couple of days, rather than do an incomplete bleed which you go back and finish off later.

That's what I reckon, anyway.

spot on matt. .

just a thought.
which hose went,and was there a cause ??. sometimes they go because of damage or age, but sometimes they go as a result of the pressure, you really need to decide what has occurred and if further work is needed. you may find that when repaired, the next weakest link goes.

its even easier to bleed on your own when you have a low coolant alarm, and a high coolant alarm. .

[Bogmonster40]

There was an after market modification made to mine. Directly underneath the rear heating control, someone put a 3 way copper "T" in - unfortunately something must have hit it as I had a pin head hole in this metal part so all my coolant leaked out onto a Tesco carpark .
I have picked up a replacement which I intend on fitting tomorrow, then I have to refill my coolant.

I really appreciate the advice given as I thought all that would happen was my wife would need to carry a "Pensioner blanket" I'm so glad she never looks up what I type.....

[Northern Bongolow]

http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... el#p571797

[Velocette]

If you get air in the water jacket adjacent to the combustion chamber that part of the head can melt in a short time. I have seen heads that this has happened to on the floor at ADS.