Coolant system burping procedure?

[ghunt81]

I drained my coolant a few weeks ago because I took the front timing cover off during my cam install to check the timing.

I did not remove the radiator, I did disconnect the two upper hoses at the engine and remove the coolant bottle and the crossover hose that runs from it to the thermostat housing (I assume that's what that is at the big radiator hose junction.

I drained all the coolant into a jug and when everything was done and back together I refilled, ran it a few times, turned on the heater, took the cap off the bottle (saw bubbles a couple times), topped it off, ran it some more. I have also cracked the bleeder screw on the top of the coolant crossover both with the cap on and off the bottle (wasn't sure which it was supposed to be) while the engine was running. Coolant came out of there and I was getting heat out of the vents so I assumed I was good.

However I noticed while driving yesterday the gauge is still reading higher than I remember it ever showing before (about 2/3 up the gauge). Is there still something else I need to do? The coolant is at the "cold full" level on the bottle with the car is cold. Or do I need a flush and new coolant?

 

[pics06gtstang]

seal the system , it will burp thru the coolant expansion tank .
the guage is good at where its at , if you can , hook up a mechanical temp gauge for a tru reading .
P.S.
Always use new fluid , dont re use !

 

[skwerl]

Not specific to this vehicle but a trick I learned many years ago was to clip the small pin in the breather hole in the outer part of the thermostat. This makes the breather hole larger and allows any trapped air to pass through easier. The only other effect is that you have a tiny bit more coolant flow when the thermostat is closed, so it might take 7 minutes instead of 6 minutes to get a cold engine up to temperature.

 

[ghunt81]

I probably do need to replace the coolant then, I just didn't have any on hand...Who knows how many miles are on the stuff in the car and the car has almost 90K on it.

That thermostat trick also seems like it would make the system easier to drain...I had a bunch of coolant stuck upstream of the thermostat that wouldn't drain until I removed the hose from the bottom of the overflow bottle and drained it through there.

 

[pics06gtstang]

Not specific to this vehicle but a trick I learned many years ago was to clip the small pin in the breather hole in the outer part of the thermostat. This makes the breather hole larger and allows any trapped air to pass through easier. The only other effect is that you have a tiny bit more coolant flow when the thermostat is closed, so it might take 7 minutes instead of 6 minutes to get a cold engine up to temperature.

thanks for the trick tip bro !
i will use this myself tomorrow when working on the car .