Antifreeze fill advice needed

[olaf herrick]

Hey guys , anyone have some advice for a guy who is filling the rad on a bigblock car with a purge tank . My car has an aluminum rad and long rad hoses , I installed an Edelbrock water pump but the antifreeze isnt filling up like I would like. The motor gets hot before the thermostat opens . I tried removing the upper rad hose from the purge tank but its filled. I only got about a gallon in the car and there is very little left in the block but plenty of air. Thanks Olaf

[niles]

Open a return lines at a high spot; (exiting intake,etc.)
Fill and keep the rad. full; then squeeze( milk the bottom rad hose) this will frequently force water into block and purge the large amount of air trapped there.

gn

[ERA535]

There is usually a fitting on the intake manifiold that should be opened when filling with coolant...leave it open a crack while filling until coolant comes out.

You are using distilled water, some water pump lubricant, and as little anti-freeze as possible, right?

[Ibr8k4vetts]

You should also get a thermostat that has a air hole or you can drill a 1/8 hole in yours
Mike
________
CL350

[Cobra20646]

Olaf,

I never run the engine until I'm sure that the radiator, hoses, and engine is full of coolant. If you only got "about a gallon" in your system, I hope you didn't do any damage to the engine.

The best way to get "most" of the air out of the engine is to remove the upper hose from the thermostat housing. Fill the radiator with coolant.... gravity will do the job of filling the lower hose and then on to the water pump, through the block and finally up to the thermostat...... pushing out most of the air. Then you reconnect the hose and complete the fill. Then and only then start the engine and bring it up to temp., refilling as needed.

And like mike says, drill a small hole in the thermostat. Position the hole so it is at 12 o'clock. This will allow any trapped air to excape BEFORE the temp rises and the thermostat opens. It's also the only way the above procedure will work for you.

Good luck

- Jim -

[Mr.Fixit]

Drill an 1/8" hole in the thermostat next to the spring( not thru the moving parts). Loosen one of the plugs or fittings on top of the intake to allow the air bubble to escape. I like to pump up the system prior to fire up with a radiator pressure checker to look for leaks before you make a mess.

[ls1ac]

The pros use a vacuum system.
Pulling a vacuum on the whole system then having the vacuum suck the antifreese back into the system the block gets filled.
This system can be made using the air vacuum from Harbor Frieght, and an old cap, a value, and some fuel line. Works great.