This was much easier to learn compared to doing it at a shop and costing me 100s of dollars. I live in Arizona where the temperature reaches 100s during the day, I drive a 06 solstice myself, very nice to have a way to properly clear the system. Thank you very much.
Thanks a ton for making and posting this video. I had to replace a failing coolant temp sensor in my '07 GXP and got A TON of air into the system in the process. After hitting 225 deg. by the end of my driveway I found your video, purged the air, and I'm back in business. Awesome! 😎
Thanks so much Tim I followed your video and got my car down to 190 degrees after installing the 2 valves and putting a GM stat in and then purging the coolant. Cheers! ;)
Your tip saved me quite a few bucks from the mechanic, great tip...on another occasion, I had a Air Fan fuse showing a nice crack causing a short no doubt out, and that fuse was causing some really bad intermittent temp rises due to engine fan being inadvertently shut off when it should of continued to run. As I recall, it was a yellow fuse in the engine compartment, very easy to find if you follow the fuse chart thats on the inside top of fuse cover. Its better to pay $5 rather than a $1,200 cracked head. Your GMC dealer usually has them in stock or they will order you one. Goodluck amd thanks Tim !!
Thanks for your comment Herb ! The fan seems to work correctly but I will double check it. For now my system seems functioning as well as GM engineered.
I would have a temp spike that would go up to about 240° then come back down on the first drive of the day. Typically wouldn’t happen again until the next day. I bled the system as you did here and that seems to have corrected my problem. Took less than 30 minutes total time. Thanks
My suggestion: Buy an OEMTOOLS 24444 Coolant System Refiller Kit if you have an air compressor. It worked like a charm. I had a small coolant leak after refilling the first time so I had to do it twice and this made it cake. Seal everything up, it makes a vacuum via venturi, once the system is at set vacuum and hoses collapsed, shut that off and just open the feed tube and it literally fills the whole system by the vacuum that you created. Once you do it one time and learn it, it's absolute cake the next time.
Thanks Tim, I was very nervous about changing my coolant given the problems with air bubbles and overheating the car is known for. I was surprised at how smooth and easy this went and I am not very knowledgable in car mechanics.
Hi Tim I had the same problem of air in the system after doing my scheduled coolant change. I played with it but couldn't get the air out. Others suggested doing the squeeze the upper & lower radiator hose when hot trick but to no avail. My Temperature The tube was then connected to the smaller system lines one @ a time. This was held up then coolant was poured into the funnel, this created a head pressure forcing the coolant & air out of the system & into the tank.. It was surprising how fast the coolant flowed out of the coolant lines & into the tank. Then the line was clamped off preventing air to enter the system then connected. My only wonder is the air trapped under the thermostat but it must have worked it's way out as this fixed my problems . This setup corrected my coolant issues. My system runs around 89 to 94*C or 192 to 201*F with 91*C/ 196*F as the happy point for most of the running time at speed at 92*F. Living in Canada we don't see the 100*F temps like you do. When my friend asked me to do his change I suggested that he go to the dealer, they use a vacuum setup to remove all of the coolant then fresh coolant is a sucked back in by the vacuum. He had no issues what so ever,. Would I do it again, not sure as it was a worrisome moment when you see your coolant temp hit very high numbers. Ron
Lost a section of the post? Should read: My temperature readings were all over the place. I didn't use the air pressure as I didn't think of it, this is a bit simpler method. A funnel is connected to 3" section of tube.
Ron I empathize with the cooling issue as the first time it was super easy and I wondered why so many had trouble ... the second time I drained coolant is when it became obvious air was stuck. I was fortunate that I saw how Mike Martin solves this in a video and it worked beautifully. Simple, clean and effective!
Temperature all over the place indicated a air pocket that was traveling around the system. Glad you finally diagnosed it! I just went through a huge issue over thermostats and will post another video later tonight ... surprising how much NEW 180 degree T-stats can vary.
good morning Tim, dear Thank you for the information you give, they are excellent, now I wanted to ask you to see if you could clarify this for me, I did everything step by step, but after I start the vehicle just when there are uphills it starts to raise the temperature to 105 or 108 degrees Celsius and returns the coolant to the tank and throws it out through the vent, do you know what could be happening?
Well there are two possibilities … 1 there is still air that was trapped in the heater core and all of the bubbles have not been removed. This will lead to coolant being stalled when a bubble reaches the water pump impeller. When the water flow stalls it will over heat and then expel itself out of the overflow. 2 the thermostat is seized or stuck in the closed position and will not allow coolant to flow and as a result the temperature reaches boiling point and expels out the overflow. This assumes no ’other’ issues like a failed head gasket or other mechanical failure. I would suggest a pressure test of the system, if it passes then refill and ensure you get all of the air out and it may take several series of attempts with the vehicle warm beyond 190 F degrees. If that does not permit the bubbles to be removed the next step is replace thermostat with an ACDelco version and purge the system again.
Hello Tim, great videos, I find them very helpful. I have just tried this easy purge but I think I have an air pocket in the heater core. One of the tubes going through the firewall is very hot to the touch, the other is ambient temp. Also when I select heat for inside the car the air coming through is cool. Would repeating the easy purge help or do you know of another way to purge the heater core? Thanks in advance.
Ok I would get the car warm … drive the car with heater on FULL hot 🥵… then find an open parking lot and do some aggressive ‘S’ turns. Bring it back to the garage and let cool and leave the heater set at full hot. After cooled jack up drivers side of car as high as you dare and repeat the purge. I had to do mine a few times.
Do you think the check valves are needed. I really hate the idea of putting them in which means I will have to remove more coolant and risk any bubbles. I have an 09' that I had to out the LDK block in because the prior owner toasted the engine because of the coolant issue. Mine is fine under high load but at a light it will get up to 218. One thing I did to get some of the air out is lift the car high on the left side and while at 2000 rpm I reached behind the engine on the passenger side and squeezed that large hose a bunch of times. I think the real final solution is to put bleeder valves in the system . Like cut a hose and put a T in it and the other spot is that long pipe to the water pump. When you used the vacuum lift system did you pull it down to at least 26"? Thanks
Lots of questions … I used an air lift device and pulled vacuum to 15” … it helped but was not perfect. I then used the air pressure method purging each line with the car raised on the drivers side quite a lot. After all was said and done I wound up putting in a 160 degree TStat from Lingenfelter and turned off the low coolant temp Mil indicator so when it drops to 168 it won’t turn on the check engine light. Before the colder TStat it ran 190-215 on the gauge but a laser indicated the hose and inlet outlet at the rad were nice and cool around 180. I got tired of the anxiety and put in the cold TStat and now it still hits 205 occasionally when running hard in 100 degree weather but mostly floats 170-195 on the gauge … the temps on the hoses show 162-168
I did this and there was no air that came out. Car still goes to 216 when going to a light for a while at 80 degrees. Look at the large line behind the engine. It has a hump in it. This is the most likely place for an air bubble. I jacked the car up super high on left side and ran engine at 2500 and kept squeezing that hose as hard as possible . That was largest help but not perfect.
It is unfortunate it did not work for you. I needed to do it several times as the bubbles need to find their way to the top of the engine to be extracted
How about using this method after the engine is hot and the big circle is open? When the thermostat is closed, there will be not flow through the main cooler, right?
You are correct the thermostat in these cars and LS engines forms a perfect seal once closed to speed up the warm up cycle to reduce emissions. The engine needs to get to operating temperature to ensure coolant is flowing through the system and not air is trapped behind the Thermostat.
Love the videos. Question, have you found a safe way to clean the intake valves without taking the top end apart? I like doing things myself but I’m afraid to use any cleaners because everyone says you can’t use them in turbo cars without destroying the turbo. I don’t have money to get it walnut blasted. Any ideas and a video would be appreciated. Thanks from a gxp owner.
I have not had to do this yet as my car has just flipped 10,000 miles. I am told you need to use walnut shells but I have seen some try the sea foam approach ... it is sucked in through a vacuum source after the turbo and has worked for some
Tim Ronak I will when I find time to get it down. I only have 37,000 so I’m not overly concerned but I’m pretty sure the valves already have done carbon build up
@@ohboy2592 I tried gum out and seafoam. They are good for preventative maintenance but once there's already a bunch of carbon you've gotta pull the intake manifold and walnut blast or clean it some other way. I used long picks from harbor freight and a harbor freight media blaster connected to my 40 gallon compressor. I got a intake port vacuum adapter so I could keep the mess down using a shop vac to suck the media out and I got a media blasting wand off of eBay (marketed for BMW n54 and n55 engines).
Just did this. No sauce. Heat only blows hot above 2000 RPM. Overheats very slowly at idle, above 2000 RPM it overheats rather quickly. No matter what I do, every time I shit the car off the coolant level is higher by a solid half inch (I just replaced waterpump, thermostat, timing and balance chains, spark plugs, and a host of small things)
Thank a lot my guy, my GXP is now on average 194-198F. 205 with the AC full blast, in the AZ summer. Great video 👍
Glad it helped!
This was much easier to learn compared to doing it at a shop and costing me 100s of dollars. I live in Arizona where the temperature reaches 100s during the day, I drive a 06 solstice myself, very nice to have a way to properly clear the system. Thank you very much.
Thanks a ton for making and posting this video. I had to replace a failing coolant temp sensor in my '07 GXP and got A TON of air into the system in the process. After hitting 225 deg. by the end of my driveway I found your video, purged the air, and I'm back in business. Awesome! 😎
Awesome that it was helpful to you !
Hi Tim, I used this method on my GXP the other day and it worked like a charm. Thanks for putting up your videos.
Thanks so much Tim I followed your video and got my car down to 190 degrees after installing the 2 valves and putting a GM stat in and then purging the coolant. Cheers! ;)
Awesome 👏🏻 glad it worked for you 🤓
Your tip saved me quite a few bucks from the mechanic, great tip...on another occasion, I had a Air Fan fuse showing a nice crack causing a short no doubt out, and that fuse was causing some really bad intermittent temp rises due to engine fan being inadvertently shut off when it should of continued to run. As I recall, it was a yellow fuse in the engine compartment, very easy to find if you follow the fuse chart thats on the inside top of fuse cover. Its better to pay $5 rather than a $1,200 cracked head. Your GMC dealer usually has them in stock or they will order you one. Goodluck amd thanks Tim !!
Thanks for your comment Herb ! The fan seems to work correctly but I will double check it. For now my system seems functioning as well as GM engineered.
I would have a temp spike that would go up to about 240° then come back down on the first drive of the day. Typically wouldn’t happen again until the next day. I bled the system as you did here and that seems to have corrected my problem. Took less than 30 minutes total time.
Thanks
Fantastic … I am glad it worked for you as well!
My suggestion: Buy an OEMTOOLS 24444 Coolant System Refiller Kit if you have an air compressor. It worked like a charm. I had a small coolant leak after refilling the first time so I had to do it twice and this made it cake. Seal everything up, it makes a vacuum via venturi, once the system is at set vacuum and hoses collapsed, shut that off and just open the feed tube and it literally fills the whole system by the vacuum that you created. Once you do it one time and learn it, it's absolute cake the next time.
I used that as well but unfortunately it did not completely remove the air.
Thanks Tim, I was very nervous about changing my coolant given the problems with air bubbles and overheating the car is known for. I was surprised at how smooth and easy this went and I am not very knowledgable in car mechanics.
David I am glad it was helpful for you
I tried a few ways and didn't have a vacculift. Did this exact process last spring and it worked perfectly the first time
Kollinger that is great to hear ... it sure worked well for me ... and it is EASY!
Sorry KOLLIN... damn autocorrect took over
How do I get air out of the system?
Easy pump more air in.
Neat trick thanks for the info.
Hi Tim
I had the same problem of air in the system after doing my scheduled coolant change.
I played with it but couldn't get the air out. Others suggested doing the squeeze the upper & lower radiator hose when hot trick but to no avail.
My Temperature
The tube was then connected to the smaller system lines one @ a time.
This was held up then coolant was poured into the funnel, this created a head pressure forcing the coolant & air out of the system & into the tank.. It was surprising how fast the coolant flowed out of the coolant lines & into the tank. Then the line was clamped off preventing air to enter the system then connected. My only wonder is the air trapped under the thermostat but it must have worked it's way out as this fixed my problems . This setup corrected my coolant issues. My system runs around 89 to 94*C or 192 to 201*F with 91*C/ 196*F as the happy point for most of the running time at speed at 92*F.
Living in Canada we don't see the 100*F temps like you do.
When my friend asked me to do his change I suggested that he go to the dealer, they use a vacuum setup to remove all of the coolant then fresh coolant is a sucked back in by the vacuum. He had no issues what so ever,. Would I do it again, not sure as it was a worrisome moment when you see your coolant temp hit very high numbers.
Ron
Lost a section of the post?
Should read: My temperature readings were all over the place.
I didn't use the air pressure as I didn't think of it, this is a bit simpler method.
A funnel is connected to 3" section of tube.
3 foot not 3" Can't edit post.
Ron I empathize with the cooling issue as the first time it was super easy and I wondered why so many had trouble ... the second time I drained coolant is when it became obvious air was stuck. I was fortunate that I saw how Mike Martin solves this in a video and it worked beautifully. Simple, clean and effective!
You really should try the purge as it is super easy
Temperature all over the place indicated a air pocket that was traveling around the system. Glad you finally diagnosed it! I just went through a huge issue over thermostats and will post another video later tonight ... surprising how much NEW 180 degree T-stats can vary.
Thanks man
good morning Tim, dear Thank you for the information you give, they are excellent, now I wanted to ask you to see if you could clarify this for me, I did everything step by step, but after I start the vehicle just when there are uphills it starts to raise the temperature to 105 or 108 degrees Celsius and returns the coolant to the tank and throws it out through the vent, do you know what could be happening?
Well there are two possibilities … 1 there is still air that was trapped in the heater core and all of the bubbles have not been removed. This will lead to coolant being stalled when a bubble reaches the water pump impeller. When the water flow stalls it will over heat and then expel itself out of the overflow. 2 the thermostat is seized or stuck in the closed position and will not allow coolant to flow and as a result the temperature reaches boiling point and expels out the overflow. This assumes no ’other’ issues like a failed head gasket or other mechanical failure.
I would suggest a pressure test of the system, if it passes then refill and ensure you get all of the air out and it may take several series of attempts with the vehicle warm beyond 190 F degrees. If that does not permit the bubbles to be removed the next step is replace thermostat with an ACDelco version and purge the system again.
Nice!
Hello Tim, great videos, I find them very helpful.
I have just tried this easy purge but I think I have an air pocket in the heater core. One of the tubes going through the firewall is very hot to the touch, the other is ambient temp. Also when I select heat for inside the car the air coming through is cool. Would repeating the easy purge help or do you know of another way to purge the heater core?
Thanks in advance.
Ok I would get the car warm … drive the car with heater on FULL hot 🥵… then find an open parking lot and do some aggressive ‘S’ turns. Bring it back to the garage and let cool and leave the heater set at full hot. After cooled jack up drivers side of car as high as you dare and repeat the purge. I had to do mine a few times.
Do you think the check valves are needed. I really hate the idea of putting them in which means I will have to remove more coolant and risk any bubbles. I have an 09' that I had to out the LDK block in because the prior owner toasted the engine because of the coolant issue. Mine is fine under high load but at a light it will get up to 218. One thing I did to get some of the air out is lift the car high on the left side and while at 2000 rpm I reached behind the engine on the passenger side and squeezed that large hose a bunch of times. I think the real final solution is to put bleeder valves in the system . Like cut a hose and put a T in it and the other spot is that long pipe to the water pump. When you used the vacuum lift system did you pull it down to at least 26"? Thanks
Lots of questions …
I used an air lift device and pulled vacuum to 15” … it helped but was not perfect. I then used the air pressure method purging each line with the car raised on the drivers side quite a lot.
After all was said and done I wound up putting in a 160 degree TStat from Lingenfelter and turned off the low coolant temp Mil indicator so when it drops to 168 it won’t turn on the check engine light.
Before the colder TStat it ran 190-215 on the gauge but a laser indicated the hose and inlet outlet at the rad were nice and cool around 180. I got tired of the anxiety and put in the cold TStat and now it still hits 205 occasionally when running hard in 100 degree weather but mostly floats 170-195 on the gauge … the temps on the hoses show 162-168
I did this and there was no air that came out. Car still goes to 216 when going to a light for a while at 80 degrees.
Look at the large line behind the engine. It has a hump in it. This is the most likely place for an air bubble. I jacked the car up super high on left side and ran engine at 2500 and kept squeezing that hose as hard as possible . That was largest help but not perfect.
It is unfortunate it did not work for you. I needed to do it several times as the bubbles need to find their way to the top of the engine to be extracted
How about using this method after the engine is hot and the big circle is open? When the thermostat is closed, there will be not flow through the main cooler, right?
You are correct the thermostat in these cars and LS engines forms a perfect seal once closed to speed up the warm up cycle to reduce emissions. The engine needs to get to operating temperature to ensure coolant is flowing through the system and not air is trapped behind the Thermostat.
@@350tiger I sold the car, too unrealiable. Switched back to a 1991 Opel Kadett. Simple, but unbreakable!
Love the videos. Question, have you found a safe way to clean the intake valves without taking the top end apart? I like doing things myself but I’m afraid to use any cleaners because everyone says you can’t use them in turbo cars without destroying the turbo. I don’t have money to get it walnut blasted. Any ideas and a video would be appreciated. Thanks from a gxp owner.
I have not had to do this yet as my car has just flipped 10,000 miles. I am told you need to use walnut shells but I have seen some try the sea foam approach ... it is sucked in through a vacuum source after the turbo and has worked for some
Tim Ronak thank you. I have used sea foam in other engines before. I’ll check that out
Keep all of us in the loop regarding your results !
Tim Ronak I will when I find time to get it down. I only have 37,000 so I’m not overly concerned but I’m pretty sure the valves already have done carbon build up
@@ohboy2592 I tried gum out and seafoam. They are good for preventative maintenance but once there's already a bunch of carbon you've gotta pull the intake manifold and walnut blast or clean it some other way. I used long picks from harbor freight and a harbor freight media blaster connected to my 40 gallon compressor. I got a intake port vacuum adapter so I could keep the mess down using a shop vac to suck the media out and I got a media blasting wand off of eBay (marketed for BMW n54 and n55 engines).
What coolant are using? Or just choose any with a red color?
Use the factory dexcool fluid … do not mix with others that are not compatible or it could gel in the system and cause a nightmare
@@350tiger what number of this ACDelco Dexcool coolant?
I found many silmilar on Walmart with different prices
ACDelco GM Original Equipment 10-5027 Dex-Cool 50/50 Pre-Mix Engine Coolant - 1 gal www.amazon.com/dp/B00IG2IZDS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_B9W6YNH66BAXVGY0FEDX
Just did this. No sauce. Heat only blows hot above 2000 RPM. Overheats very slowly at idle, above 2000 RPM it overheats rather quickly. No matter what I do, every time I shit the car off the coolant level is higher by a solid half inch
(I just replaced waterpump, thermostat, timing and balance chains, spark plugs, and a host of small things)
I am not certain but my guess would be you have an air bubble circulating that needs to be purged out.
@@350tiger It's been a year, that WAS it, you are right. finally got that sucker out. (Drilled 2 holes in the T stat). 14,000 miles later, no issues.
@@nathanielbailey108 very glad to hear it worked for you !