Can't bleed coolant.

[Joshua Biel]

Ok so i've tried everything and i'm starting to get frustrated. Ive got a 2003 Ram 1500 with the 5.7L hemi and for the longest time i've had a problem where i didn't really have heat. I could sorta hear water in the dash like the heater core had a huge air pocket in it and id get sorta warm air most of the time. Ive already changed every single blend door in the HVAC system and everything there works fine. Never had a problem with the truck losing coolant or getting hot. Well a few days ago i decided to flush the heater core to see if maybe there was just a restriction that was causing the problem. ran some water from my hose through the core and i've got perfect flow and no leaks, this is when the problems started. I put everything back together, filled the truck up with coolant and attempted to bleed all of the air out of the system. My truck being a 2003 it seems that it's different than every single video i can find on youtube or post explaining how to bleed the coolant. Every video ive seen shows a radiator with a cap built into the radiator and your standard coolant overflow tank but my truck has a completely sealed radiator and an expansion tank that has the radiator cap on it. ive been trying for a while now to get the bubbles out and so far this is whats been happening.

My truck will start to warm up, I will start getting heat and everything seems normal, from what i can tell as soon as the thermostat opens up i immediately loose all of my heat and the truck starts to run hot, this also usually ends up with coolant exploded everywhere under the hood from the radiator cap. if i let it sit for a bit to cool down and start it up ill have heat again but as soon as the thermostat opens up it's back to no heat and the truck getting hot.

Ive tried everything i can think of, i've even made sure that the upper radiator hose is full of coolant.

If anyone could help me to understand what i'm doing wrong that would be great. Id also like to know if anyone knows if it's possible to swap out my radiator and expansion tank for the newer style radiator and overflow tank that it seems 2004 and on trucks have.

 

[Octane]

Make sure your heater setting is on high and park on incline where the radiator cap is higher than the motor.Run engine at idle with cap off.Keep an eye on coolant level of course and the air should eventually bleed out this way. If you have a heater control valve hooked inline with heater hose make sure that is working properly to let coolant flow thru the complete system

 

[jmd4100]

Ok so i've tried everything and i'm starting to get frustrated. Ive got a 2003 Ram 1500 with the 5.7L hemi and for the longest time i've had a problem where i didn't really have heat. I could sorta hear water in the dash like the heater core had a huge air pocket in it and id get sorta warm air most of the time. Ive already changed every single blend door in the HVAC system and everything there works fine. Never had a problem with the truck losing coolant or getting hot. Well a few days ago i decided to flush the heater core to see if maybe there was just a restriction that was causing the problem. ran some water from my hose through the core and i've got perfect flow and no leaks, this is when the problems started. I put everything back together, filled the truck up with coolant and attempted to bleed all of the air out of the system. My truck being a 2003 it seems that it's different than every single video i can find on youtube or post explaining how to bleed the coolant. Every video ive seen shows a radiator with a cap built into the radiator and your standard coolant overflow tank but my truck has a completely sealed radiator and an expansion tank that has the radiator cap on it. ive been trying for a while now to get the bubbles out and so far this is whats been happening.

My truck will start to warm up, I will start getting heat and everything seems normal, from what i can tell as soon as the thermostat opens up i immediately loose all of my heat and the truck starts to run hot, this also usually ends up with coolant exploded everywhere under the hood from the radiator cap. if i let it sit for a bit to cool down and start it up ill have heat again but as soon as the thermostat opens up it's back to no heat and the truck getting hot.

Ive tried everything i can think of, i've even made sure that the upper radiator hose is full of coolant.

If anyone could help me to understand what i'm doing wrong that would be great. Id also like to know if anyone knows if it's possible to swap out my radiator and expansion tank for the newer style radiator and overflow tank that it seems 2004 and on trucks have.

I have a 2007. When I replaced the radiator, I put the truck on ramps, and deflated the drivers front tire so the radiator was up and the side with the cap was higher than the side without. Let the truck idle until the stat opens and add coolant as necessary through the radiator cap. It's ok if it expands and some comes out. I'd rather waste a quart of coolant than have a ton of air in the system.

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[HemiLonestar]

Make sure your heater setting is on high and park on incline where the radiator cap is higher than the motor.

With the 03's the rad cap is always higher than the engine, they're the weirdos with the cap on the puke tank instead of the rad itself.



After a thermal cycle where it doesn't explode, have you vented the cap to let any trapped air out? Stupid question, did the hoses go back on the heater core the same way they were before? I've never had this problem at all (going on 15yrs now) which makes me wonder what's going on with yours...

Id also like to know if anyone knows if it's possible to swap out my radiator and expansion tank for the newer style radiator and overflow tank that it seems 2004 and on trucks have.

Yes you can, however you may want to figure out what's causing this problem first, as spending all that money to swap over may not solve your problem.

 

[madtrucker2016]

That is a old style crappy system jeep used the same type for the coolant system with the bottle. I would try and jack the front of the truck up so the engine is pointing up and the rear of engine is down. This way air will flow to the front and come out the opening in the bottle.Also you can bleed the air on the engine from the brass temperature sensor ,just on screw it till the coolant flows out with no air it. I would make 100 percent ,because you,ll warp your heads and be up ***** creak.

 

[10 Break]

Along with elevation and idling engine, burp it....squeeze the lower and upper hoses.

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Sounds like the radiator is clogged, when the thermostat opens up that hot coolant from the engine block wants to fill the radiator, because its clogged the coolant has no where to go but to relieve pressure it blows the radiator cap, get a IR temp gun and check the temp of the radiator, top hose will be hotter and lower hose should be considerable cooler being cooled by the radiator if its working properly.

 

[Joshua Biel]

I think I got it figured out. I got a new thermostat and pulled the old one, and just to test I put them both into a large glass bowl full of water that I sat into another container full of water. I then used my sous vide to slowly start rising the temperature of the outer container of water. I used two containers because I didn’t want to contaminate my sous vide with coolant. I had a thermometer in the bowl with the thermostats to make sure the water in the large container and in the bowl were the same. I got the water up to 195 degrees then slowly brought it up to 235 and watched both thermostats. The new one started opening around 202 and was fully open at around 208-210. My old thermostat would start to open around 203 but would stay mostly closed up until the water temp hit around 230 at which it opened pretty quickly.

I believe this is why I wasn’t able to get the bubble out of my coolant as I was getting nervous when the truck was getting up to 220 and shutting it off. I popped the new thermostat in and I was able to bleed it with no issue. Truck runs between 203-208 now and I have super good heat.

 

[pajeepman]

I have ALWAYS tested thermostats in boiling water before installing them. Only had 1 fail to open. I also drill a small 1/16" hole in to allow air to escape. I know some new ones I have seen have a small "bleeder" hole from the factory. Not sure what they were for, just ones have seen. Glad you seem to have got it figured out.

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[OCDTech]

I have ALWAYS tested thermostats in boiling water before installing them. Only had 1 fail to open. I also drill a small 1/16" hole in to allow air to escape. I know some new ones I have seen have a small "bleeder" hole from the factory. Not sure what they were for, just ones have seen. Glad you seem to have got it figured out.

Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk

For this purpose i always believed,( help get air out without getting up to operating temperature and possibly hurting the engine, with nothing but air in some parts of it, also most of the time a manual states to put in a certain position, such as 12 o'clock. Depending on the setup, model of vehicle.

 

[OCDTech]

I think I got it figured out. I got a new thermostat and pulled the old one, and just to test I put them both into a large glass bowl full of water that I sat into another container full of water. I then used my sous vide to slowly start rising the temperature of the outer container of water. I used two containers because I didn’t want to contaminate my sous vide with coolant. I had a thermometer in the bowl with the thermostats to make sure the water in the large container and in the bowl were the same. I got the water up to 195 degrees then slowly brought it up to 235 and watched both thermostats. The new one started opening around 202 and was fully open at around 208-210. My old thermostat would start to open around 203 but would stay mostly closed up until the water temp hit around 230 at which it opened pretty quickly.

I believe this is why I wasn’t able to get the bubble out of my coolant as I was getting nervous when the truck was getting up to 220 and shutting it off. I popped the new thermostat in and I was able to bleed it with no issue. Truck runs between 203-208 now and I have super good heat.

Good work, not sure how long it would have taken me to catch that one. Thank you for letting us know the outcome.

 

[Octane]

My bro had a clogged radiator once and he drilled a larger hole where the thermostat pin is located and although the temps would spike higher it never ran overly hot for several years.I called him el cheapo.