How Can I Purge Air out of Radiator ?

bigstar101

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Yeah, please do...

yeah it does. So i can use the compressed air like the Air from the Gas station ??

Also, u think that it why the Temp is not accurate? or is it Coolant Temp sensor thats messed up?

The temp would rise to 230F and the egnie feels normal...
 

YelloEye

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From a gas station won't really work since they don't have the correct fitting to do that there.

Temperature can be wrong for a couple of reasons, last of which are a bad sensor. My first bet would be that the sensor doesn't have any fluid running past it meaning it's going to get fairly hot. Second, the air in the system means it's not circulating properly so there is less coolant than there should be. Then finally the sensor could possibly be bad.

Don't go throwing parts at it though before diagnosing the problem. I'll make up a diagram later today.
 

bigstar101

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THat totally makes sense!
Just out of curioisity, where is the coolant sensor located ?
Do u suggested I take a it to a legit mechnic that has the proper comprssed air tank ?
 

YelloEye

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Honestly I'm not sure where the engine temp sensor is, don't have my books in front of me to look it up either. I can find out later though.

An air compressor is fairly cheap, or use I've of your buddies. Any normal one will do except for those emergency 12v ones for your car.

That and a tool like the one on the bottom here are all you'll need.
FH10APR_AIRCOM_05.JPG
 

YelloEye

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Alright here's that diagram I promised. I cannot stress enough that you need to ensure that the coolant tank has fluid in it at all times during this procedure. If it begins to go low on you stop and fill it up.

The pipe I enclosed in red is what we're using, disconnect the hose clamp circled in green.

Ensure the vehicle has warmed up to operating temperature, turn it off, slowly loosen the overflow tank cap until the pressure has been relieved. Remove cap once pressure has been normalized. If coolant begins to boil tighten cap back down and let the vehicle cool at bit. The idea here is we want the thermostat open so we can purge the entire coolant system.

Be careful, the coolant is likely in excess of 160*F and will scald the hell out of you. I will not be held responsible if you manage to cause bodily harm. ;)


Place the open end of the metal pipe into a container of sorts to catch any fluid that will come out.
Apply air pressure from a nozzle as illustrated above to the rubber hose, this will pressurize the coolant system. Continue adding air until you get more or less straight coolant emptying into your catch container or of course the coolant tank gets very low.

Best of luck!

The arrow in the picture simply denotes the direction the air should be going btw.
 

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bigstar101

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YelloEye,

Thank you so much for all your help.

So here is what happened yesterday.

Had the mobile mech stop by and swapped out the coolant sensor to no avail.
He tested out the thermostat and it passed.

He then added some more fluid, took it on a drive and the max it will reach was 210 F

Will leave the car as is, although I know there is still air bubbles trapped and the diagram is excellent!
its just I dont know where I can borrow an air compressor! nor where to get the tools
 

YelloEye

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210 is a fairly normal temperature to see, once it gets towards 240 I'd start worrying.

Glad you guys got it sorted out.
 

bigstar101

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Ok, folks so I took in to a legit shop and find out that it has a blown gasket, water pump is dying and the radiator fans are not working properly.

I guess we drove it hot couple time and we blew the gasket.

What do you guys think? Sell as it or spend some $$ to fix it.
I’m just afraid of dumping all the money and the problem will still be there… The Mech said it’s a SAAB Engine and it’s a pain to work on.
It’s a Salvage title with 87K miles.

Appreciate everybody’s thoughts and inputs.
 

YelloEye

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Won't get much with a salvage title.

If the mechanic says it's difficult to work on I'd get a second opinion, I find them pretty easy.
 

bigstar101

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If you got a blown gasket is that fixable to start with ? The mechanic said he can reploish / refine the heads

I have always known that when you blow the gasket = get rid of your car.

??
 

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