Rising Coolant! Airlock?

[John Williams (Panda) - Joint Manchester AO]

Just starting the car for the first time.....

but i notice as i increased the revs the higher the coolant rises in the resevoir; (upto the top).

is this a syptom of an air lock, if so any suggestions on how this can be fixed?

many thanks

John

[John Williams (Panda) - Joint Manchester AO]

..

[perksy]

Sounds like an Airlock

We'll need a bit more info'    

What engine    

[John Williams (Panda) - Joint Manchester AO]

Sounds like an Airlock

We'll need a bit more info'    

What engine    

sorry.... it's a zetec 1800.

cheers

john

[zoso]

Aye, the Zetec airlocks like a rite b****r...

I've found the best method is to "squidge" the pipes where you can and rock the car about as much as possible... seems to do the trick eventually!

[zoso]

Last time mine airlocked and I didn't realise, I got half way down the street before the water shot out the expansion tank and found it's way through the gaps in the sealant of the foot box cover...  It hurts when your wearing shorts!

[perksy]

After draining the system i re-filled the expansion tank slowly and kept stopping to squeeze the coolant pipes until i felt them start to stiffen up  

Other than that didn't do anything 'special' and never suffered with an airlock aslong as i had the car (Zetec)

[Jace]

Have had to refill my system a fair few times since getting my car so am getting to be a bit fo an old hand at this.  

If it has the standard radiator it has a bleed bolt you can take out but that doesn't seem to do jack sh*t!  

Best thing to do is pour slowly and squeeze the system pipes whilst filling it and then do the same whilst your run the car and let it heat up until the fan cuts in and the system opens. When cold the coolant runs back round into the header tank so mine always looks as though I have overfilled it.

Not sure if this helps but seems to work for me!  

Know the feeling when the system leaks, my thermostat housing cracked apart and I had the entire contents of the system pour into the foot well. Still have marks on my foot from the blisters and that was 5 months ago now...  

[neilwillis]

I opened up the pipe at the top of my Polo rad.   Tapped it, and put a bolt in to seal it.   It is now a bleed point, and since then I've never had any airlock issues.

Having the header tank as high as possible is also important.

[Jace]

My brother's tin top is a Ford Escort and he gets the same thing with the 1800 Zetec in that as I do in my Westie.  

Only differences are that his car is a bag 'o' w*%k   and for whatever reason he can never get his car to overheat, wish I had the same problem with my Westie.  

As we say in the IT trade I think it may be 'Working as designed'  

[John Williams (Panda) - Joint Manchester AO]

I opened up the pipe at the top of my Polo rad.   Tapped it, and put a bolt in to seal it.   It is now a bleed point, and since then I've never had any airlock issues.

Having the header tank as high as possible is also important.

UPDATE!!!

emptied the coolant out.... changed the 'sealed up screw' in the rad as recommened by WF and changed it to a pipe with a bolt in it!

This did indeed blead some air out of the system (until collant started to flow) also did this with the nose jacked up! but....

still getting rising in the expansion tank and infact the level stayed up until i removed the bleed plug and it let air into the system for the level to drop!  

if the expansion tank is lower than the heater unit be causing this?

Any  suggestions?

cheers

John

[neilwillis]

It is important that the expansion tank is the highest part of the system.   That way, any air will gradually be expelled to the atmosphere.   Once you've bled it, run it up to temperature, and then let it cool, and bleed again.

It will settle down after a few heat cycles.

Also, if the coolant isn't actually being sprayed everywhere, and the level is just rising in the expansion tank, there is no problem.   It is an expansion tank, that's what it does.

[perksy]

as the westfield expansion tank is much smaller capacity than a standard zetec expansion tank.

Really, by how much