Any special way to fill this type cooling system?

[ADFD1]

I guess I ask for these jobs. GF has 08 Liberty and is a real car buff, I like that! Anyway she wants to drain and refill her AF. Since it is fairly new I suggested just draining the radiator and filling with the proper mix of AF, and a complete flush was not needed. The Jeep only has about 10,000 miles on it. She got the AF from Jeep, it is the same as the FF.

Anyway is has the plastic recovery tank up top between the engine and the radiator at the same level as the top of the radiator. How do you bleed this system if you drain the radiator? Do you just refill the radiator and expansion tank and call it good? Run it and check the level a few times?

TIA

 

[Eddie]

Owners manual information?

 

[KrisZ]

Most cooling systems these days are self bleeding, filling the radiator and the overflow tank is all you need to do. Then run the car untill the thermostat opens, and if the level goes down, fill to the full line and run the engine untill the level stops dropping.

 

[SteveSRT8]

NOT! Please stop with the crazy advice.

You would trash many modern cars with a steam bubble/temp spike that way. DOH!

If the cap is on the overflow tank then it is pressurized. Many cars have a bleed somewhere, near the thermostat or water pump. This bleed is opened and the car is filled till coolant comes out the bleed hole.

Go online or to the Jeep forums and get the details first please.

 

[Sayjac]

Guess the Jeep pressurized system must be different than the Ford Explorer pressurized system.

I drained the radiator of my sons 05 Explorer, refilled with a gallon of Motorcraft Gold and some distilled water, some of each (equal), till I used all but a small amount of the MC Gold. Saved just a little space in the recovery tank, left the cap loose, till after I started and warmed the vehicle to operating temp.

Checked the level in the tank, and finished the MC Gold and topped with distilled to the correct level. I had no issues with any steam bubble temp spike, but as I say, it must be different than the Jeep.

Consult your OM.

I've also done a non pressurized system, and there you have to remove the tank, drain it and refill to a 50% concentration.

One thing you likely know but JIC, if it's 50/50 you just pour it in, if full strength, you add equal amount of distilled H2O.

That said, with only 10k on an 08, the coolant is likely just fine.

 

[eljefino]

Look for a small (1/4") diameter hose that branches off the main system, typically from somewhere on the engine to the surge tank or a heater pipeline and has no apparent purpose. If you have this it's an air bleed off. If you don't, you don't.

GM was nice enough to post specific warnings on my van about the special burp procedure.

If the jeep has a beauty cover on the engine take it off and look around the thermostat area etc for a little bleeder screw.

 

[JOD]

I have no experience with this particular car, but I know a lot of small SUV's now have heater cores in the back for rear heat. Ford has a bunch of warnings about not draining the rear heater core unless you use a vacuum filler.

I found a Snap-on 'Radkitplus' on fleabay for about $20.00. I'll never fill another cooling system without it. It is the ultimate lazy-man tool: drain the system and close, hook it up to the degas bottle, pressurize the system (with a compressor via the tool), stick a plastic tube into a bucket of coolant mix, and open a pressure valve. It sucks the coolant into the system (the entire system), zero air. None of this adding to the thermostat, running the engine business!

The only issue I have with it is the cost of a new one. I got a smokin' deal on mine, but the Snap-on new is around $200.00. There are knock-off versions for about $70.00, or you could make your own with a trip to a hardware store for about $30.00.

It's probably overkill, but it does impart a sense of security knowing that you have no air in the system from the get-go.

 

[SteveSRT8]

No offense intended here, but ignorance is bliss until something screws up.

The GM is a good example. A very specific procedure or you can pop a head gasket. One of my employees blew out a radiator with a steam bubble trying to refill a vans cooling system 'the olde fashioned way'.

And note all systems these days are pressurized, just some have pressurized overflow bottles with no radiator cap. Those sometimes provide a bleeder fitting.

 

[Sayjac]

Quite obviously all systems are pressurized these days, but not all systems are pressurized including the overflow tank. Clearly that is what I was referring to when speaking of the (Explorer) pressurized system, as opposed to a non pressurized overflow tank.

And, the Explorer specifies no bleeder valve. There may be a difference if it has a rear AC unit, which the one I did, did not. Instructions are included in the Explorer owners manual.

To the OP, again consult the OM, I would think instructions for draining and refill would be included.

 

[Chris142]

Should be a bleeder where the upper hose connects to the engine. Takes an 8mm Allan tool. Remove the bleeder, wrap it with teflon or your favorite sealent. Fill the cooling system untill liquid comes out of the hole then put the bleeder back in.

Fill the recovery bottle and run the engine @ 2000 rpm untill the thermostat opens. Turn off the engine and have lunch. Recheck the level in the bottle once it's cooled.

 

[zrxkawboy]

G05 coolant is good for 5 years/150k miles. I wouldn't mess with it.

 

[ADFD1]

Thanks guys, I'll see if she has the OM and then look on the engine for some bleed provision!

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: sayjac

I've also done a non pressurized system, and there you have to remove the tank, drain it and refill to a 50% concentration.


If you leave the radiator cap on when you open the radiator drain, it will drain all the coolant out of the expansion tank. At least it does on my 88 Mustang GT.

 

[mechtech2]

Doing a simple drain and fill is a good idea vs. a flush.
I flush only when there are known problems.

But at 10,000 miles on a new vehicle, this is foolishness and wastefulness.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
NOT! Please stop with the crazy advice.

You would trash many modern cars with a steam bubble/temp spike that way. DOH!

If the cap is on the overflow tank then it is pressurized. Many cars have a bleed somewhere, near the thermostat or water pump. This bleed is opened and the car is filled till coolant comes out the bleed hole.

Go online or to the Jeep forums and get the details first please.


+1 and more! Whether or not if this particular Jeep has a pressurized overflow bottle or a conventional one, it may have an inlet-side thermostat. Modern cooling systems are FAR more sensitive to trapped air than they used to be. Most Chryslers from the last 20 years have a fitting just like a brake bleeder somewhere near where the upper rad. hose mates with the engine. Follow the instructions to use this bleeder to vent the trapped air as you fill the system, and save yourself a set of warped heads.

 

[ADFD1]

I'm inclined to leave well enough alone, but this new GF is smokin and I want to do the right thing. Anyway, since the vehicle is going to be 2 years old in December and has such low miles, how about this idea?

What if I use a small pump and take AF out of the expansion tank, then refill the expansion tank, my guess is there is close to 1 gallon in there. I figure if something along those lines is done once a year that cooling system will stay pristine and the AF will always be recharged for lack of a better word.