Dodge RamCharger Central banner

Bleeding air from coolant system on Alero

9K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  atowinram 
#1 ·
Howdy!

Had to replace a plastic housing on the Alero today...geesh, who thought such a little crack could cause such a big leak!  ;)

Kristian and I got it repaired, but I think there is still a little air trapped in the system.  What's the best way to bleed it off? 

It's a 2001, 2.4L, auto, with A/C.

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
What we always used to do was with two people, one sit in the car and rev it up and keep it up and let it get hot, then somebody with an oven mit would go and SLOWLY turn the radiator cap, just enough to let the air out.  Usually worked pretty good.  Not the smartest way though.
 
#3 ·
Vacuum.

The open the radiator cap method quit working when radiators stopped having caps, and engines ended up mounted higher than radiators, ect ect.

Many GMs also have a bleeder port somewhere on intake manifold, or general area.

Generally applying vacuum is the best bet.
 
#4 ·
The 3.4L should have one or two bleeder valves. One bleeder is at the thermostat outlet and the other is on the water pump bypass pipe next to the water pump. Open them both up and run the engine up to operating temp with the heater on. It may be necessary to raise the RPM up to get the coolant flowing and once it does it will shoot out the bleeder screw(s). When that happens you will top off the surge tank and tighten the bleeder screw(s) and put the cap on the surge tank. Drive it, check the level again in a day or two...



My memory for the 2.4L is foggy, but it seems to me that the only way to bleed them is through heat cycling or with vacuum... You can look for a bleeder valve though, just look for the highest point on the engine.
 
#5 ·
atowinram said:
Had to replace a plastic housing on the Alero today
Let me guess, upper water neck, broke at the groove for the o-ring?
The 2.4 {puke} does not have a bleeder screw so if you can not do the vacuum method then try this, go for a drive, find a road where you can do 2 or 3 0 to 50 full throttle runs, works for me.
 
#6 ·
68300 said:
Let me guess, upper water neck, broke at the groove for the o-ring?
That would be the one...cheap plastic POS...broke out about a 1" long spot at the groove and let the o-ring drop back into the engine. Luckily, everything kind of stuck together as we removed it, so we were able to recover the pieces and the o-ring and nothing got stuck in the coolant system.

I know that I'm dealing with an air bubble near the thermostat because I'm getting slightly "inflated" readings on the temp gauge. From everything I've read, the bleeders were put on the V6 engines, not the 2.2L or 2.4L engines. I was able to relieve some of it this afternoon by cycling the heat & the A/C. Might have to do the 0-50 thing as well...if nothing else, just for fun because I have an excuse! ;D

Beyond the usual "let it work itself out" theory, I found this on an Alero modification site.

"I found out the many-member approved method on JBO. That metal coolant line that was giving me troubles with the o-ring leaking is actually the main bleeding line. I have to make sure it's clear for flow (not bent like it is now) and run the car and squeeze the radiator inlet hose coming off the overflow tank, trying to push the fluid through the system and once coolant comes shooting out of that hose, it should be bled."

Could that possibly work?

Thanks!
 
#8 ·
68300 said:
There is one way to find out, try it.
Alero ran a tick on the hot side tonight. I figured it developed an air bubble on the thermostat again, so I let it cool down and popped the cap...BIG gurgle. I decided to try the hose thing, and I think it may have worked. I got a lot of huge bubbles at first, then it changed to groups of small ones, the it turned into coolant only with a tiny bubble every few pumps.

Guess I'll know for sure tomorrow!

Edit: Must have worked...the temp stayed where it normally does instead of acting goofy. :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top