How to bleed cooling system on D16Z6?

[20th1519]

I just installed a new water pump and t-belt. Got everything back together and fire her up but the water pump has no coolant in it so it sounds really bad. Looking at my manual it says to fill system and bleed with the valve on the return section of the radiator hose. Should i run the car with no coolant in the water pump until it reaches normal operating temp and the thermostat opens or is there something i am misssing?

[igo4bmx]

did you fill the system and bleed the coolant?
also another thing that works is to massage the hoses with the radiator cap off to squeeze out any air.

[Intercooled T]

i don't understand 'bleeding' the cooling system. When I flush a system, there is a wingnut on the bottom of the radiator, I use that to drain it, put wingnut back in, fill radiator up to capacity, and use the wingnut to adjust if too much is in

[2point4DSM]

Problem with trying to fill a closed system with fluid is air will get trapped in high spots. Honda solves this with a bleeder valve that you open when filling with coolant. Very simple solution. Use it!

If you run the car without coolant not only will you kill the waterpump but you will also kill the rest of the motor, lol. At the very least you run the risk of overheating the motor and blowing a headgasket.

Coolant flush and fill service seems very simple but not a lot of people actually know how to do it right.

If your unsure of this you are better taking it to a mechanic. The money saved from doing it yourself is not worth the possibility of blowing up a motor.

[silver05bullet]

hes right if u dont know what ur doing take it to a shop

[20th1519]

I used the bleeder valve and all went well. The noise was actually my power steering pump wanting some fluid. Thanks for the replys.

[highmilehatch]

Are you sure you got all of the air out? Just filling the radiator until the coolant dribbles out of the bleed hole will not guarantee all of the air to be out. Start the car with the rad cap off, fill with coolant as needed. When the car gets to operating temp and the thermostat opens, feel the bottom radiator hose - it should be hot. Now is when any of the trapped air will make it's way to the top of the radiator. Watch for bubbles. When you see no more, the system is bled. Be sure to keep the rad cap topped off throughout the process.

[20th1519]

Well i have put 240 miles on the car since the t-belt overhaul and no problems with either leakages or overheating so i would say its a success.