Bleeding the cooling system - 205

[trackdemon]

Bl00dy hell, how long does it take to bleed the cooling system on a 205!!! I drained it, flushed it, and topped up with fresh water & antifreeze and then ran it up for quite a while. I'm still getting air through the bleed nipple occasionally (using the one behind the carb near the middle of the bulkhead). Am I missing something, or does it really just take ages for all the air to bubble through?

[sniff petrol]

trackdemon said:

Bl00dy hell, how long does it take to bleed the cooling system on a 205!!! I drained it, flushed it, and topped up with fresh water & antifreeze and then ran it up for quite a while. I'm still getting air through the bleed nipple occasionally (using the one behind the carb near the middle of the bulkhead). Am I missing something, or does it really just take ages for all the air to bubble through?

Next time, try removing the header tank and hold it up higher, then you wont have to mess about with bleed scews.

[trackdemon]

sniff petrol said:

trackdemon said:

Bl00dy hell, how long does it take to bleed the cooling system on a 205!!! I drained it, flushed it, and topped up with fresh water & antifreeze and then ran it up for quite a while. I'm still getting air through the bleed nipple occasionally (using the one behind the carb near the middle of the bulkhead). Am I missing something, or does it really just take ages for all the air to bubble through?

Next time, try removing the header tank and hold it up higher, then you wont have to mess about with bleed scews.

You say next time, I don't think I'm done yet!

What do you mean remove the header tank? I've had the lid off everything from the bleed screw to the rad header. Still getting periodic air from the bleed screw - not sure how long I'm supposed to give it.

[sniff petrol]

trackdemon said:

What do you mean remove the header tank? I've had the lid off everything from the bleed screw to the rad header. Still getting periodic air from the bleed screw - not sure how long I'm supposed to give it.

Ok, lets go back to basics (sorry if I do sound pedantic but not sure on your level of mechanical expertise) :

Unbolt the header or filler tank from the main body of the car, but keeping the hose attached, then raise the tank up as high as you can, I hang mine from the bonnet catch with a peice of wire, there should be enough spare hose to let you do this. Then just re-fill the system, let the engine run for a bit to get the water to circulate and any air bubbles will automatically come out the top. This works on my GTi, but not sure about the layout on your 1.4 sorry.

[number2301]

If your 1.4 is anything like the TU in my other halfs 106 XSi it won't have a header tank, it has a bottle thing built into the side of the radiator. Looking at it I couldn't see how you'd take it off to get the air out of the system as you normally would with a header tank, which may be your problem.

[sniff petrol]

number2301 said:

If your 1.4 is anything like the TU in my other halfs 106 XSi it won't have a header tank, it has a bottle thing built into the side of the radiator. Looking at it I couldn't see how you'd take it off to get the air out of the system as you normally would with a header tank, which may be your problem.

I'm not joking but how about parking it face up a steap hill?

[Simes205]

On a mates AX (same engine) we used a 2L lemonade bottle as a header tank.
Attach it to the top of the existing tank using gaffa and a using a steady hand to top it up whilst the engine is running and bleed nipples are open.
It is a 2 man operation.

Note:
The plastic bottle will start to flex under the heat of the water which makes it more interesting. This is why Citroen and Peugeot use a large alloy funnel which screws directly onto the tank.


Otherwise unbolt the header as mention and raise - also a 2 man job to fill her up.