Dare to bleed the cooling system 250 miles from home

[Kjeld]

Replaced my coolant tank a few weeks ago, all went well. Car has been fine. Took off yesterday from cool foggy San Francisco, into the hot, dry California Valley and the car is running much warmer than usual (I come out here every year). Now I am 250 miles from home wondering if I should attempt to bleed the cooling system. After searching former posts here, have a few questions.

1. Sounds like the SE's and US Fed cars are different. What is the best technique to bleed my Fed car?

2. Saw a few postings referencing the bleed valve shearing when loosened. This would be a disaster given the one horse town I am in right now (Redding, California). Should I just leave it until I get home, and plan on running warm/hot (it never passes the 3/4 mark)?

[Doug]

Hej Kjeld,

so I guess the whole town of Redding goes home for the holiday weekend then? I have friends who do this each year . . .

I think the thing to do is just open the cap on the overflow tank and drive around the block a few times with the engine cold and then see if the coolant level dropped at all and if so then you got some air out of it.

we dont have the bleed valve under the left headlight.

-D

[ailwyn]

This would be a disaster given the one horse town I am in right now

This to me makes the answer obvious.

Run the car, as long as the needle does not rise above 3/4 you should be fine. Just take some extra water with you so that should any potential air work it's way out of the system you are able to top up the level.

The other possibility is the thermostat is stuck closed, probably not the ideal option in your location, but I've found on other cars that turning the heater to hot (without the fan running) allows the water to flow via a different route, thereby cooling the engine, however I have not had this problem or tried that solution on the Elan. FWIW when I've done this in the past, the heater need only be off cold for it to work.

Ailwyn

[algirdas]

Dear Kjeld:

Fed cars are different for UK cars. We do not have bleed valves if I remember correctly. Our systems are "self-bleeding" or "self-purging".

Here is what I do: Take off the cap from the coolant overflow tank. Start the engine cold and turn the heater on full blast (on high heat with the fan running). Let the car idle and keep watching the level in the overflow tank. Don't let it go empty. Top it up with antifreeze or distilled water. Put the cap back on and let it cycle through the fans a couple of times. Make sure you are getting really hot air through the heaters. Drive it normally (heater off or as needed). The next morning (engine cold) go out and check the level cold. Top up as needed.

You should be good to go at that point.

When you get ready to do your hoses, run some coolant system flush through the car a couple of times, and after it has cooled down the second time, dump the coolant and start your hose project. Flushing the system can be messy so be careful opening the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator. The water can still be pretty hot even if it has cooled off a bit.

After you have put on the new hoses, fill the system with 50% anti-freeze and 50% distilled water along with a bottle or Redline water wetter. I have done this to my car and she runs real cool.

Sincerely,

Algirdas

[Doug]

[Kjeld]

Thanks guys.

Ailwyn, yeah, that was my thinking.

Algirdas, I forgot about those bloody hoses! Are they ready to order yet?

Doug - it is not so much that Redding goes home for the weekend. It is that no one in Redding is going to touch this car! I'd have to fly Marie up to save me!

Made it up to Ashland today, uneventful temp-wise. I still think something is up with the cooling system though. Can't seem to get any more coolant into the system, but it is still running distinctly warmer than in the past.