[DeTomaso] head drilling for air release

[Tomas Gunnarsson]

I have never jacked my car up to get rid of the air in the system. I fill through my expansion tank that connects to the water pump inlet through a T in the return line from the heater core. This should fill the block through the water pump exit ports. It will also fill the return line from the radiator and thus the radiator. When the water runs into the block it rises until the water reaches the thermostat housing and then some. It will then start running down the hot line to the radiator until it's full too. Eventually the expansion tank will be filled to the brim. Now I move to the radiator bleed screw and open it. Air will escape and eventually water will come through. I top up the tank and I'm done. Sure, there's air in the system but it will within one lap around the block with the engine at operating temperature gather in one of two places: The top of the radiator or the expansion tank. After that I simply re-bleed the radiator and top up the expansion tank. I don't understand in what way the jacking up of the car in any direction would improve air bleeding over my method.

Tomas

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <asajay at asajay.com>
To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 6:02 PM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] head drilling for air release


> I'm still flustered with that whole idea.
> 
> I have a 351C installed in my Mach I.  I've never had any problems  
> bleeding air from the system, getting it full of coolant, etc.  It  
> doesn't have air bleeds at the back of the heads.  So doing a bit of  
> Kepner-Tregoe analysis on this, what are the similarities and  
> differences.
> 
> The engine in the Mach I tilts in such a way the front of the engine  
> is slightly higher than the back (I think), but in the Pantera, it's  
> just the opposite.  So in the Pantera, I can see air getting trapped  
> at the back of the head, but if you've managed to bleed the system  
> properly, are they really necessary?
> 
> Which makes me wonder why I would want to jack up the -back- of the  
> car, when it seems to me I should be jacking up the -front-.  But then  
> there is the radiator up front which could trap air.  In my case, I  
> know the radiator was full, as I had a sight-hose connected to the  
> upper corner to verify it was full.
> 
> My brain hurts.
> 
> Asa Jay
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quoting Larry Finch <fresnofinches at aol.com>:
> 
>> Is drilling the heads for air release, as Sean just wrote about,
>> something that could be done with them installed in a running car, as
>> opposed to something only done with heads off?
>>
>> I imagined drill shavings and thread-tapping shavings could easily be
>> an issue.  But I intend to replace my radiator this Winter, so having
>> shavings lodge in this current radiator is not really an issue.  And I
>> also currently have a Tefba coolant filter in place; its purpose being
>> to trap any free flowing trash prior to the new radiator install.
>>
>> I'm thinking now would be a good time to get those air bleed holes
>> installed in my engine?
>>
>> Larry
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
>>
>> Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/
>>
>> DeTomaso mailing list
>> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
>> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
>>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> 
> Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/
> 
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso