Help Needed!

[starsky07]

Hi guys. i'm new here after searching the web for answers to a bad whining noise under the bonnet. The answer came when the aux belt snapped on the motorway after the water pump seized up. My husband has fitted a new pump and belt in under an hour but isn't sure if he has topped the coolant up right. The plastic reservoir is full but the metal cap used to always be full but now keeps emptying out. Is there a trick to filling the system as he says it should draw the water in from the plastic tank but has only took a tiny amount. any help will be much appreciated.

[Jan van de Wouw]

The system needs to warm up properly first, so the thermostat opens up. It will then spew out the air trapped in the system through the radiator pressure cap.

You need to make sure the plastic tank is filled up so when the air is out and the coolant cools down again (and contracts) it will suck in coolant instead of air again.

[starsky07]

so do you leave the pressure cap off whilst it's warming up then?? I've always just filled the bottle up and switched the heater on full then just bled off the top hose or bleed valve. i assumed this would take in water from the tank as its running and that is what i topped up. so if i leave the pressure cap off and run it up to temp do i top here and just ensure the plastic bottle is topped to max as at the moment that is full.

[Jan van de Wouw]

You have to leave the pressure cap on. You only take that off to fill up the system after opening it.

Once the coolant heats up it expands and throuws out what doesn't fit into the expansion tank.

This inclused air that's trapped inside. Once the coolant cools it contracts again, sucking in the

extra coolant form the expansion tank. The air that got out has escaped allready, so it only sucks

in coolant. When you make sure the coolant is between the lines at the proper temperatures

it will self-bleed without any problems.

[starsky07]

Think its sorted now. Appreciate the quick replys and knowledgeable answer. Cheers

[ormi]

Hi guys. i'm new here after searching the web for answers to a bad whining noise under the bonnet. The answer came when the aux belt snapped on the motorway after the water pump seized up. My husband has fitted a new pump and belt in under an hour but isn't sure if he has topped the coolant up right. The plastic reservoir is full but the metal cap used to always be full but now keeps emptying out. Is there a trick to filling the system as he says it should draw the water in from the plastic tank but has only took a tiny amount. any help will be much appreciated.

if you had just went to your dealer the warranty on the water pumps has been increased to 5 years......so youve just spent money for no reason..