[DeTomaso] Bleeding the cooling system

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

FWIW, I'm with Kirby on this question. In 33 years of ownership I've NEVER 
jacked either end of our car to the moon while bleeding air out of the 
cooling system. If you think about the piping layout, ALL the pipes drop 12-14" 
down to the floor level to go from the engine to the radiator & back, so 
short of a 45 degree tilt, all you're doing is getting tired while 
raising/lowering the car. Tiliting the car nose-up a bit MAY tend to not trap as much air 
in the cylinder heads, but that's a minor effect compared to the violence 
induced in the water flow from the pump when the engine is running.

The Pantera and also the Mangusta midengine layout tends to trap air 
throughout the cooling system, and my method is to start the engine with a Lisle 
clamp-on funnel firmly attached to the surge tank in place of a cap, and wait 
for the BIG bubble of air that's always in there to burp out. Then I add 
more coolant as necessary. All this happens within a minute or so of starting 
up. 

The remaining air will come out gradually over the next few days of 
driving. Those who ever owned a water-bed know that air is slightly 'soluble' in 
water and takes a LONG time to condense into a bubble big enough to be 
removed. How do you know when there's a bubble stuck in the motor? Watch the temp 
gauge: if the sender is in the block, it will be approximately where the 
bubbles mostly collect and the gauge will cycle between maybe 125 to 210 degrees 
quite rapidly. This is air. A vented thermostat will help free the bubbles 
and you can drill an 1/8" hole there yourself; no super-rare/pricy vented 
thermostat needed.
FWIW- J Deryke