Bleeding the cooling system with a bleeder tank.(swirl pot device)

[om3ga]

Im trying to find out what exactly to do once i install the Greddy bleeder tank that im going to be putting in. What steps come after that It goes something like this id imagine lol.

Fill up radiator
Fill up overflow resevoir
Fill up bleeder tank

Then what? When you start the car do you need to have the cap off the radiator? Off the bleeder tank? Do you need to jack the front of the car up in the air still? I want to throroughly understand this setup before i start it up.

This is what im talking about in case you dont know (pic borrowed from a write up on this tank)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/RPSport/Swirl%20Pot%20Write%20Up/HPIM0555.jpg

[Razi]

The way I do mine, I fill up everything and then I squeeze the hoses a bit to get out more air.

Then I idle the car and fill up the swirl tank as the bubbles bleed out.

I check the swirl tank and top it off after I drive it around town.

[GSXRJJordan]

Are you serious? Lol you'll love this.

*Fill radiator and breather tank with fluids, go ahead and 'burp' the upper/lower hoses if you want to speed things up (if the engine's empty).
*Put on all caps
*Start the car
*Go make a fuckin sammich while your coolant system bleeds itself.

Seriously ~ you can leave the cap off the bleeder if you want to see it 'working' but that air is going to stay in the bleeder (or possibly vent out the bleeder's overflow if you let it get hot enough).

My engine bay/PBM swirl pot's WAY hotter than that one...
http://wut2dg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pSsILK-bijMTrz4OtK1nUGCJoMMZLeu5Cbo58no2oQvhLzHdMhbGUJYGq JPobrRDFKOO_oTwk2KweEyNEQc2Tng/DSC06123.jpg
http://wut2dg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pY9PfsTl_S5lTUTxGmY6yjvalm1PIQQjwGhjIwfWUroAeKyr 2Rv8sSwTf-o_pPGOrV22yYVZjGGNCE9wpCj_2gg/DSC06119.jpg

[zenki.life]

that thing looks crazy. the lines are so long. kinda takes away from the look lol

[GSXRJJordan]

that thing looks crazy. the lines are so long. kinda takes away from the look lol

What lines? The one from the radiator to the swirl tank?

Can't help that the Mishimoto 3-row has the nipple on the wrong side :) I'm certainly not going to cut it/reweld just to loose 4" of clear tubing.

[!Zar!]

Uhh isn't the swirl pot pointless unless it's going to the bleeder screw also?

[om3ga]

Uhh isn't the swirl pot pointless unless it's going to the bleeder screw also?

You can see it going to the bleeder screw on that RB its going by the intake manifold.

[GSXRJJordan]

Uhh isn't the swirl pot pointless unless it's going to the bleeder screw also?

In the pic the OP posted, the line runs presumably behind the engine (lol) and over to the bleeder on the water neck.

You can see it going to the bleeder screw on that RB its going by the intake manifold.

Greddy IM's don't have a provision for a bleeder since the RB's bleeder is up by the throttle body. It's weird. Anyway, I drilled/tapped a fitting into the water neck to be the upper port.

[om3ga]

Oh ok cool man, thats a good idea your setups lookin good. So this bleeder tank basically makes it so you do not have to jack the car up and run it with the radiator cap off for hours and hope theres no more air left lol it eliminates ANY air left in the system?

[GSXRJJordan]

Oh ok cool man, thats a good idea your setups lookin good. So this bleeder tank basically makes it so you do not have to jack the car up and run it with the radiator cap off for hours and hope theres no more air left lol it eliminates ANY air left in the system?

Like I said, I still would take the usual steps if the engine's bone dry... burp the hoses, jack the front, etc. Once you put the non-pressurized cap on the radiator though, you'll have a solid stream of water going to the swirl pot, getting mixed with the water from the upper neck, and that will take the air bubbles out better than anything. Go ahead and leave the cap off the swirl pot when you start it lol, you'll see.

[!Zar!]

And so my question was cleared up.

wheeeeeeeeeeeee

[fliprayzin240sx]

You bleed it the usual way to get most of the air out. Fill up the system, Open up the radiator cap off first and burp the system by massaging the upper radiator hose. Get as much air out as you can then start the car and continue massaging the hose and re-filling as needed. Once the radiator is full and you dont see air out of it anymore, put the cap on and make sure the swirl pot is full and put the cap. You can watch the swirl pot in action. Awesome toilet bowl action.

Just make sure you installed it properly. Just seems a lil weird you got it all the way back there. You got it tapped off the bleeder screw on the upper water neck? Hope you dont have that line anywhere close to the exhaust manifold. I dont see that shitty hose surviving the heat. Last thing you need is having coolant pissing all over your car. Also, make sure the swirl pot sits higher than the bleeder screw to force the air out of the system.

[om3ga]

Ok awesome! That pic was taken from someone elses write up haha, So wait you use the solid cap on the radiator and the radiator cap on the bleeder? Can you use two radiator caps instead? I was planning on using two blitz 1.3 caps or would that not be a good idea?

[GSXRJJordan]

Seriously?

If you use a rad cap on the rad, there won't be any water coming into the swirl pot from the rad. You use a non-pressurized rad cap on the rad and your 1.3 bat cap on the swirl tank.

[om3ga]

So that would work 100%? I remember dousan saying he was using two radiator caps. So you use the non pressurized cap that comes with the tank on the radiator and the 1.3 cap on the swirl tank what if you used two non pressurized caps? lol i think the PBM tank comes with two non pressurized ones. Sorry for the question i just want to know 100% exactly how everything works and goes before i get one and do it haha. I also thought that the hose going to the radiator cap area was a feed??

[fliprayzin240sx]

The idea is to let the radiator "pour out" and let it push the air out to the swirl pot so no, you dont need a rad cap on there. Use the straight thru cap. Only place you need a real rad cap is at the swirl pot.

Concept of a swirl pot is to let the engine and radiator force the air out of the system on its own. The pot makes sure the air doesnt go back into the system, thats why the coolant returns thru the bottom so the air bubble that gets retained by the pot stays there. Good idea to check up on the pot and make sure its not empty after a day or two. How much air you have usually shows how much air you had in the system. Once its completely cleared of air, the pot will always be full.

[GSXRJJordan]

So that would work 100%? I remember dousan saying he was using two radiator caps. So you use the non pressurized cap that comes with the tank on the radiator and the 1.3 cap on the swirl tank what if you used two non pressurized caps? lol i think the PBM tank comes with two non pressurized ones. Sorry for the question i just want to know 100% exactly how everything works and goes before i get one and do it haha. I also thought that the hose going to the radiator cap area was a feed??

The PBM setup comes with two non-pressurized caps because they're different heights, to fit different types of radiators I guess. If you use a non-pressurized cap on the swirl pot, you'd just have a solid stream of coolant coming out of it.

The hose going to the rad cap is a feed, to the swirl pot! The only water flowing out of the swirl pot is down the bottom, to the lower rad hose (water pump inlet).

[om3ga]

Oh ok that makes complete sense, Awesome! Thank you so much for clearing this up i will definitely be buying one of these now haha, Im just trying to decide between the greddy and the pbm one now :/ haha i guess theyd both do the same thing. I saw your radiator caps and they both look the same but the one on the radiator is a dummy cap and the other one on the swirl pot is a regular cap? They just both looked the same so i got confused lol.

[GSXRJJordan]

Oh ok that makes complete sense, Awesome! Thank you so much for clearing this up i will definitely be buying one of these now haha, Im just trying to decide between the greddy and the pbm one now :/ haha i guess theyd both do the same thing. I saw your radiator caps and they both look the same but the one on the radiator is a dummy cap and the other one on the swirl pot is a regular cap? They just both looked the same so i got confused lol.

I have a Power Enterprise cap (I rebuilt my motor with everything from Power Enterprise, so I paid an extra $20 for their rad cap :keke:) that I was using on the radiator, but since I need a non-pressurized cap for the rad, I used both caps from PBM so they'd match.

PBM > Greddy.

[om3ga]

Oh ok, you used bother caps from pbm? Is one a regular cap? I thought theres came with two non pressurized caps.

[GSXRJJordan]

Oh ok, you used bother caps from pbm? Is one a regular cap? I thought theres came with two non pressurized caps.

Lol, came with two non-pressurized caps with different cap heights (to fit different radiator necks, I guess) and one 1.1bar cap. You only use one of the non-pressurized caps.

[steve shadows]

Nice using my pic!

Just fill up your coolant system and go- dont forget a Nismo Thermostat too

If you check under the hood of all the JDM race cars you will see one and there is reason why.

:2c:

[om3ga]

Sweet haha im so down for this now! now i just gotta figure out if i want the PBM one or if i want the Greddy one haha.

[om3ga]

Another thing about this, My heat hose on the rear of the sr that goes to the top inlet of the heater core is about as high as the top of the valve cover in the rear of the engine. Do i have to mount this Bleeder tank higher than that? Or do i have to just mount it higher than the bleeder screw? If my theory is correct the tank needs to be higher than the highest point in the cooling system which would be that hose correct?

[om3ga]

Bumpy bumpy

[Charlie]

This is how I mounted my breather. The distance between the top of the breather and the point where my finger is 4"+. I dont know if the S14 engine bay is that much different than the S13 ones.(asuming that you own a S14). There were existing holes that were threaded that fit the supplied screw prefectly.(The breather I have is the cheaper one from PSM) Oh and the rad fits like limp dick is because the front was in a small accident from the previous owner.

Sorry cars a mess right now.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x183/mrxtripz/IMG_0703.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x183/mrxtripz/IMG_0704.jpg

[om3ga]

I guess that spot would probably work, i will need it higher than the valve cover on my sr I have an S13 but it can be mounted in a similar spot.

[Charlie]

Just run your setup like how steve shadows (http://zilvia.net/f/members/steve-shadows.html) did his then.

[om3ga]

And how might that be?

[Charlie]

http://zilvia.net/f/archive-faqs/134366-coolant-swirl-tank-how-installment-no-2-approved.html

[om3ga]

There is something im stuck on at the moment. So im running an SR and the heater hose thats behind the engine loops around and goes back to the top heater core inlet. This bleeder tank attaches to the nipple it comes with that threads into the bleeder screw on the upper water neck.

If that rear hose is higher than the upper water neck bleeder screw (which it is) How is that going to work? I know you are supposed to mount the tank higher than the bleeder screw on the upper water neck but wont air just get trapped in that rear hose? I mean i could obviously mount the tank higher than the rear heater hose but with the tank being attached supposedly pulling air out of the bleeder screw on the water neck wont there still be air trapped in that hose since it is higher than the bleeder screw?

[Charlie]

The lines behind the IM on my KA is higher than the bleeder screw as well BUT

Is you engine completely dry? If it is then just put the breather set up in then jack the car up in the front, bleed your car like usual.
Air raises wards so the air will go out the fitting in the radiator and the fitting you put on the waterneck and into the tank from there the air will stay there and eventually your car will have little to no air left.

I say you stop thinking about it and just install it already haha.

[om3ga]

How are there heater hose lines behind the head on your ka?

[Charlie]

How are there heater hose lines behind the head on your ka?
Fine not exactly behind the head like behind the intake manifold.:doh:
Those are higher than the bleeder screw. Sigh I don't know how to explain it anymore lol so I'll just leave it at that.

[om3ga]

They shouldnt be above the bleeder lol the top heater core inlet is not higher than the bleeder on a ka :P maybe it is i dont remember lol but damn that sucks mahnuts