[DeTomaso] need advice before I cry

[Charles Engles]

Dear Mike and Justin and Asa,


            A minor note on the coolant air bleeding problem.   I put up with the headache of the standard Pantera procedure to bleed the air out when refilling the coolant system many times over fifteen years. 

            I noticed that Keith Verges had mounted some small petcocks to the back of his cylinder heads to permit easy bleeding of the air.   When I built my own engines, I incorporated this trick and used some Wilwood brake bleeder parts.   They're plugged in the upper inner corner of the heads.  They're fairly discrete.  They function very well.  With all my engine misadventures, the coolant headaches from trapped air haven't been part of them.   One simply opens the bleeders, adds water until water comes out, close the bleeders, finish topping off the tank, replace the cap, drive for a bit and then just crack the head bleeders open to remove any residual air.    I has worked much better than the standard routine.   Consider the head bleeders.


                            For what it is worth,  Chuck Engles



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
To: <asajay at asajay.com>; <justingreisberg at hotmail.com>
Cc: <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 01, 2009 8:23 PM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] need advice before I cry


> FWIW, Peter Kovacs had his lower hose fall off (!) his pressure tank in the 
> parking lot at the PCNC meeting on Thursday.
> 
> After the meeting was over, we got it back on the car, backed the car up a 
> slight incline, opened the bleeder on the radiator, filled up the pressure 
> tank, and then started the car and ran it for awhile.   Thermostat opened, 
> the water pouring out of the radiator bleeder got hotter and less bubbly, and 
> after a few minutes, we called it good enough to get home.
> 
> He'll need to repeat the cycle at least once or twice to be confident that 
> it's as good as it can be.   But I've found that filling the system with the 
> radiator bleeder open (as opposed to filling it with it shut, then just 
> opening it) has worked well.
> 
> You can put a drain pan under the front of the car and reuse the coolant 
> that dribbles out, too, assuming you're filling the car with water and 
> antifreeze.   No need to throw away gallons of new antifreeze.   Just let it pour 
> out the front, and pour it right back into the back. :>)
> 
> Mike
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