96 Civic EX

I was bleeding my coolant today, had heater slide to hot etc.

A few things, I know the fan is supposed to come on, mine never did, even after like 25 mins, the gauge never reached to 1/2 point to set the off the fan, I even revved to 2k.

I did notice that it must of burped, because I had coolant right around the neck of the radiator spilled and then to the ground, I guess this is normal?

I was also checking for bubbles, to see any signs of a bad head gasket, no real bubbles in rad or overfill tank, but did see it flowing, I guess that is normal.

 

Drive it around. Then check again.

 

Except it is hard to open the cap when hot and dangerous.

 

Yes don't open the radiator cap when hot (you will get burned).

Any air trapped in the system will make it's way to the radiator and be stuck at the base of the cap (highest point in system). The next time you drive, those bubbles will be forced out the cap and into the reservoir by the force of the expanding coolant. When the motor cools again, it will suck only fluid back into the system because the straw in the reservoir is submerged in coolant. This means your reservoir level will drop slightly each time air is forced out of the system.

That is what he means by drive it around and check the level again. Really nothing more to do than that.

 

Yeah. I didn't mean immediately check it.

 

gotcha, also just in case I have to add more coolant.

 

Yeah, just add coolant to the reservoir as needed. When it's hot, keep it at the max line. When it's cold, it should be at the min line.

Just keep an eye on it for a couple days. If you have a lot of air in the system, it will suck the reservoir dry the first time the engine cools off.

 

I am wondering this, before I bleed I heard like a gruggling sound in the dash when I had the heat on, is that air or something else?

 

The gurgling is a quick indication of air in the system.It gurgles by all of the nooks and crannies in the heater core.

 

So then bleeding was a good idea.

My gauge went up last night as well, fan kicked on but it was fighting to get the temp down, so I am hoping it was air, I had a water pump put in last month and I bet they did not bleed the system.

 

Always fill a drained coolant system with the heater slide set to full HOT. This keeps a bunch of air from getting trapped in the heater core. If you hear gurgling in the dash, that means there is air. If the sound stops, that mean it's been pushed out and is making it's way to the radiator. If you have too much air, you will start to overheat the cylinder head.

Next time the car cools off, pop the radiator cap off and make sure the system is full.

Be aware that if the gauge needle goes anywhere over the steady "normal" spot, you are overheating. If this happens, you should always put the heater on high to help bring the coolant temp down. If the needle goes back to normal, then you can get where your going. If it doesn't go back to normal, it's best to pull over and let it cool or maybe call for a ride.

 

Yesterday I heard a lot of gurgling before the bleeding, but only when I switched to heat.

When I bleed I had it set to heat and let it run for 25 mins or so, but the fan never did come on, I will say like my first post, coolant must of burped out, since it was wet under the fill spout of the rad.

 

If it takes a long time for the engine to reach full operating temp, your thermostat may be stuck open and need to be replaced.

 

Only when I went to bleed since it was just idling, basically if I drive it gets to operating temp normally a few minutes or so.

 

According to the manual your supposed to raise the rpm to get the engine up to temp. Essentially the fan needs to come on twice.

 

make sure when filling your engine with coolant to have the heater core on full heat when its running with the cap off so it can circulate through the heater core as well not creating any air in the heater core when waiting for the thermostat to open. this way there are no air bubbles in the system.