I just used this tool with a pancake compressor. It's underpowered but you can get around it by closing the valve on the gauge and reducing the regulator pressure on the compressor to zero. The compressor will fill up the tank and have enough volume to push air when you turn regulator pressure back to 90 psi (recommended operating pressure). Keep doing this until you get into the green zone on the gauge then close valve on gauge. I see you mentioned that towards the end of the vid.
I work on my own Nissan Altima, this tool would be awesome for a thermostat change. It's just expensive when you're only changing the radiator coolant fluid once every 2 to 5 years. That aside it's amazing and flawless. Easy of mind
It's definitely a hard sell if you would only use it every once and awhile. Between work and my own stuff I found myself wasting too much time bleeding and filling cooling systems the regular way. This is a time saver tool and what I would consider to be a luxury item to have in the box
@@reel_images If you're feeling industrious it wouldn't be too hard to make one of your own too. Would probably cost little in parts but making it also takes time.
@@GarethFoley thanks very much for all the replies. I ended up buying a OEM tools cooling system refiller kit OEMTOOLS Tools 27066 Cooling System Refiller Kit www.amazon.ca/dp/B01GSQA5BI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lKC7DbVCJVMVX Wasn't impressed with it. It was the same principle as yours and looks the same. My 2005 Nissan Altima 2.5L was able to hold a vacume as the system had no leaks. However, I tried it 3 times to purage the lines of air and all three times I still had to use a burping funnel after in order to get air pockets out to get the heat to work at idle. I'm going to be returning the cooling system tool, I spent 5 hrs drain filling and drain filling to get it right. Regardless thank you very much for the video post.
Just curious, if the cap says 15 PSI max when PRESSURE testing for leaks, would u also recommend not exceeding that psi on cap when vacuum filling for fear of damaging plastic reservoir tanks from "collapsing" when drawing a vacuum?
Hello, this video has helped me alot. I installed a bigger hest exchanger on mt Q50. Small issue. So I pulled the antifreeze using the vacuum all the way down to when the gauge said 0. The reservoir WAY about the max line. Is that normal? I am thinking about taking some antifreeze out with a turkey baster or something
Had one of these now for a while, but I run into problems that come from not having a correctly sized adaptor for certain models. The uview I got needs more adaptors if you intend to use it on a variety of other makes.
I can see that being a problem depending on where you are pulling vacuum from on the system. Obviously a radiator cap is going to be much smaller vs an expansion tank cap. I haven't had an issue yet but if I did I would probably just make a cap for it.
@@GarethFoley The uview I have, i recently had to go find new non-stock adapters for because a nissan sedan I tried to work on, the fill port for the overflow and radiator cap area were unusually small. Live and learn I guess.
hey i just bought the airlift and air compressor 8 gallon with 175 psi..and it didn't hold the vaccum with enough pressure.. so i just chose to do the old burping system.. what kind of air compressor did you use?
I use a tiny 3 gallon compressor when I'm at home. At work we have a proper compressor with lots of volume. What vehicle are you using it on? And do you maintain vacuum or does it lose vacuum?
@@richrich7664 Make sure the cone is sealed to the radiator fill port (assuming you fill from the radiator on that truck). If that come is not 100% seated it won't build vacuum. I shove it in there pretty good and tighten the device to expand the cone. I've had your issue before and it's always been due to that sealing issue.
It doesnt do suck out anywhere as if there less pressure or something. I noticed some cars need hose clamp to clamp a small hose attached to the coolant reservoir? Perhaps that might be it?
@@richrich7664 Could be a possibility. The reservoir wouldn't be something that's pressurized on those trucks so if you're pulling vacuum from the radiator it may be pulling air in through the reservoir. Try blocking off the feed hose for it and see what happens.
Yes, correct if you were performing a pressure test on a cooling shstem. But this tool pulls a vacuum to help prevent air locks with the system is refilled.
For the car i tried to work on none of them would work. I found some alternatives online that were sold separately that will, its just annoying to discover mid-job, and they are not cheap either.
I love how you say you don't want to pull any air in as you were refilling and "nearing the bottom" of the bucket, but yet when you STARTED your refill, the entire hose from your valve back to the bucket was filled with air. You should've opened the valve, submerged the entire tube, then closed the valve while under and filled with fluid. With the tube valve closed, and not letting the other end come up out of your fluid bucket, attach the valve to the gauge, and *then* open to suck in the coolant... doing it that this way ... you suck in nearly ZERO air .. especially not a 3 foot length of tube, full of air.
There isn't a particularly good way to fill the suction hose with coolant before the valve. Realistically speaking is that going to make a huge difference? Probably not. It's really more important that the cooling system itself is purged of air before filling. That small volume of air going into the expansion tank is going to be quickly pushed back out with the volume of coolant coming in behind it. Even with the vacuum fill method it's still worth going through the manual bleed procedure. This just gets you 95% of the way there and also doesn't require running the car to fill the system (which is how air pockets are primarily generated to begin with).
@@GarethFoley If you have access to a Mityvac or other brand handheld vacuum pump (even a cheapie from Harbor Freight), I found a pretty good way to purge the suction hose of all air prior to attaching it to the AirLift. Just use a length of 5/16" ID to attach the vacuum pump to the quick disconnect nipple on the suction line. Then submerge the tube in the bucket of coolant, open the valve, pump up a little vacuum until the coolant completely fills the suction line, then close the valve. Disconnect the 5/16" tubing and the vacuum tool, and connect the suction line to the AirLift. You are now ready to pull coolant into the vehicle WITHOUT any air in the suction line. Hope this helps! Oh and btw, some fools have told me they can save the cost of the vacuum tool and just use their MOUTH on the suction line. Lol, yeah, well, I DO NOT recommend doing that for obvious toxic reasons!
You can just open the valve on the refill line to fill that area of the hose then close the valve and pull a vacuum on the system again. It works for me.
Completely wrong!. You introduced air into the car with the feed line. The feed line has air in it and you are supposed to remove this air from the feed line while you are pulling vacuum. What is the purpose of using this tool if you are going to introduce air in the system.
You're right. I could be wrong but as far as I know this tool being the original version does not have the purge feature since the venturi is closed off at the secondary attachment point. The Airlift II I know has that option to purge but as far as I know the version I have does not. For what it's worth any air from the feed line entering the cooling system is minimal anyway. Have had zero issues with this E36 which is notorious for air locks in its cooling system using this tool in this manner.
In the 7 years I've been using this tool I can tell you first hand that little bit of air in the feed does not make any difference whatsoever. I've hooked up scanners after countless times to watch ect Temps and watched the cooling fans come on and off. Air goes up, it doesn't get pushed down into the radiator
Great video Gareth! Answered all my questions. Thanks
Great video. Thanks for taking the time to share
Great video bro. Thank you!
Right to the action, no begging for likes, subs or other nonsense.
I love the passion 👍
I just used this tool with a pancake compressor. It's underpowered but you can get around it by closing the valve on the gauge and reducing the regulator pressure on the compressor to zero. The compressor will fill up the tank and have enough volume to push air when you turn regulator pressure back to 90 psi (recommended operating pressure). Keep doing this until you get into the green zone on the gauge then close valve on gauge. I see you mentioned that towards the end of the vid.
an small airbrush compressor is 2 small huh?
@@De.aurious Correct, it would be too small.
Thank you, it very helpful video...
I work on my own Nissan Altima, this tool would be awesome for a thermostat change. It's just expensive when you're only changing the radiator coolant fluid once every 2 to 5 years. That aside it's amazing and flawless. Easy of mind
It's definitely a hard sell if you would only use it every once and awhile. Between work and my own stuff I found myself wasting too much time bleeding and filling cooling systems the regular way. This is a time saver tool and what I would consider to be a luxury item to have in the box
@@GarethFoley good point. Exactly what I'll be doing for I imagine a couple hrs. Burping the system. You may have sold me when you put it like that.
@@reel_images If you're feeling industrious it wouldn't be too hard to make one of your own too. Would probably cost little in parts but making it also takes time.
@@GarethFoley thanks very much for all the replies. I ended up buying a OEM tools cooling system refiller kit
OEMTOOLS Tools 27066 Cooling System Refiller Kit www.amazon.ca/dp/B01GSQA5BI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lKC7DbVCJVMVX
Wasn't impressed with it. It was the same principle as yours and looks the same. My 2005 Nissan Altima 2.5L was able to hold a vacume as the system had no leaks. However, I tried it 3 times to purage the lines of air and all three times I still had to use a burping funnel after in order to get air pockets out to get the heat to work at idle.
I'm going to be returning the cooling system tool, I spent 5 hrs drain filling and drain filling to get it right.
Regardless thank you very much for the video post.
Not expensive at all I bought mine for 40 $
What about the air that was in the airlift line before the coolant?
This is legit! Thanks for sharing!
Definitely worth having. Glad you found the video useful. 👍
if the gauge go down what that means
@@clarendonman3538 loss of vacuum
Does anyone know what that small rubber piece is for? I cant seem to find anything about it and it doesn't seem to fit anything
Just curious, if the cap says 15 PSI max when PRESSURE testing for leaks, would u also recommend not exceeding that psi on cap when vacuum filling for fear of damaging plastic reservoir tanks from "collapsing" when drawing a vacuum?
You should fill the hose with water before you open the valve. Now you let the air in the hose into the cooling system.
Hello, this video has helped me alot. I installed a bigger hest exchanger on mt Q50. Small issue. So I pulled the antifreeze using the vacuum all the way down to when the gauge said 0. The reservoir WAY about the max line. Is that normal? I am thinking about taking some antifreeze out with a turkey baster or something
Max at cold temps is fine with Infiniti vr30ddtt. Min (cold) on the regular coolant tank tho.
will this tool work with a cheap 6 gallon pancake air compressor?
Had one of these now for a while, but I run into problems that come from not having a correctly sized adaptor for certain models. The uview I got needs more adaptors if you intend to use it on a variety of other makes.
I can see that being a problem depending on where you are pulling vacuum from on the system. Obviously a radiator cap is going to be much smaller vs an expansion tank cap. I haven't had an issue yet but if I did I would probably just make a cap for it.
@@GarethFoley The uview I have, i recently had to go find new non-stock adapters for because a nissan sedan I tried to work on, the fill port for the overflow and radiator cap area were unusually small. Live and learn I guess.
hey i just bought the airlift and air compressor 8 gallon with 175 psi..and it didn't hold the vaccum with enough pressure.. so i just chose to do the old burping system.. what kind of air compressor did you use?
I use a tiny 3 gallon compressor when I'm at home. At work we have a proper compressor with lots of volume. What vehicle are you using it on? And do you maintain vacuum or does it lose vacuum?
Just losing air right away? GMC Sierra 2012
@@richrich7664 Make sure the cone is sealed to the radiator fill port (assuming you fill from the radiator on that truck). If that come is not 100% seated it won't build vacuum. I shove it in there pretty good and tighten the device to expand the cone. I've had your issue before and it's always been due to that sealing issue.
It doesnt do suck out anywhere as if there less pressure or something. I noticed some cars need hose clamp to clamp a small hose attached to the coolant reservoir? Perhaps that might be it?
@@richrich7664 Could be a possibility. The reservoir wouldn't be something that's pressurized on those trucks so if you're pulling vacuum from the radiator it may be pulling air in through the reservoir. Try blocking off the feed hose for it and see what happens.
you actually need to follow the PSI on the cap, recommend by the manufacturer, but other than that, I like the vid
Yes, correct if you were performing a pressure test on a cooling shstem. But this tool pulls a vacuum to help prevent air locks with the system is refilled.
Does it remove coolant from the block also?
No. Just pulls vacuum on the coolant system. It may pull out a tiny amount of coolant while pulling vacuum but nothing substantial.
no you need to drain first.
There are four different adapters included inside you may try to get the best fit.
For the car i tried to work on none of them would work. I found some alternatives online that were sold separately that will, its just annoying to discover mid-job, and they are not cheap either.
I love how you say you don't want to pull any air in as you were refilling and "nearing the bottom" of the bucket, but yet when you STARTED your refill, the entire hose from your valve back to the bucket was filled with air.
You should've opened the valve, submerged the entire tube, then closed the valve while under and filled with fluid. With the tube valve closed, and not letting the other end come up out of your fluid bucket, attach the valve to the gauge, and *then* open to suck in the coolant... doing it that this way ... you suck in nearly ZERO air .. especially not a 3 foot length of tube, full of air.
There isn't a particularly good way to fill the suction hose with coolant before the valve. Realistically speaking is that going to make a huge difference? Probably not. It's really more important that the cooling system itself is purged of air before filling. That small volume of air going into the expansion tank is going to be quickly pushed back out with the volume of coolant coming in behind it. Even with the vacuum fill method it's still worth going through the manual bleed procedure. This just gets you 95% of the way there and also doesn't require running the car to fill the system (which is how air pockets are primarily generated to begin with).
That is my concern as well. That tube full of air is the same as sucking in air from the bucket if the hose isn’t completely submerged.
@@GarethFoley If you have access to a Mityvac or other brand handheld vacuum pump (even a cheapie from Harbor Freight), I found a pretty good way to purge the suction hose of all air prior to attaching it to the AirLift. Just use a length of 5/16" ID to attach the vacuum pump to the quick disconnect nipple on the suction line. Then submerge the tube in the bucket of coolant, open the valve, pump up a little vacuum until the coolant completely fills the suction line, then close the valve. Disconnect the 5/16" tubing and the vacuum tool, and connect the suction line to the AirLift. You are now ready to pull coolant into the vehicle WITHOUT any air in the suction line. Hope this helps!
Oh and btw, some fools have told me they can save the cost of the vacuum tool and just use their MOUTH on the suction line. Lol, yeah, well, I DO NOT recommend doing that for obvious toxic reasons!
You can just open the valve on the refill line to fill that area of the hose then close the valve and pull a vacuum on the system again. It works for me.
Do I need to drain my radiator out before I do this?
Yes, if not your gonna suck up antifreeze during the vacuum and it’s gonna spit it out the vent hose.
no one shows the shop air system and how it works lol.. I've never used one before.
Any air compressor with a quick-disconnect will work.
ice cream truck!
Completely wrong!. You introduced air into the car with the feed line. The feed line has air in it and you are supposed to remove this air from the feed line while you are pulling vacuum. What is the purpose of using this tool if you are going to introduce air in the system.
You're right. I could be wrong but as far as I know this tool being the original version does not have the purge feature since the venturi is closed off at the secondary attachment point. The Airlift II I know has that option to purge but as far as I know the version I have does not. For what it's worth any air from the feed line entering the cooling system is minimal anyway. Have had zero issues with this E36 which is notorious for air locks in its cooling system using this tool in this manner.
Remove the air manually. Its not hard. U never want air in the system.
@@GarethFoley don’t worry about that air, it’s minimal and will be at the top of the tank not in the hoses, coolers, heaters or block.
@@Chris-lz7sx U should always type the word "you" when criticizing someone. It's not hard.
In the 7 years I've been using this tool I can tell you first hand that little bit of air in the feed does not make any difference whatsoever. I've hooked up scanners after countless times to watch ect Temps and watched the cooling fans come on and off. Air goes up, it doesn't get pushed down into the radiator