I’ve read and followed the manual for coolant bleeding procedure, but I am still having issues getting all the air out of the system. 2003 Viper MTN with the rear exchanger. I can pull the bleed screw out of the exchanger and only when I give the engine a good blip, does it seem to spit any coolant out the bleed hole. I cannot see coolant in the rear exchanger. I kept adding to the overflow bottle till it would not take any more in. I then put the cap on and let it run for 10 or so minutes to bring it up to temp. Is it possible I’m not getting enough heat to open up the thermostat and get complete circulation? I could put the secondary and belt on and run the track on the stand to create a little more heat. I seem to remember having this issue last year as well. Any suggestions? Is there enough flow from the water pump at idle to push coolant through the entire system at or near idle or do these engines have to be at a higher RPM to get complete circulation?
When you are bleeding it, is the rear of the sled higher than the front of the sled?
Yes, considerably higher. With the track on the ground teh rear exchanger bleed hole is alreadt the highest point in the cooling system. (On a mountain Viper at least) I then use an engine hoist to lift up the rear of the sled at least another foot.
Is your coolant cap off when you pop the bleeder screw in the back?
I started with the cap and bleeder in the exchanger off till the coolant bottle quit taking coolant. Then I put the cap on and run it with the rear bleeder screw out 10+ minutes to bring it up to temp. No change in coolant bottle level. It is only when I goose or blip the engine to 5000RPM or so that I'll get a little spit of coolant out of the rear bleeder hole.
I would fire it up without the cap on it, let it run for a couple minutes, then pop the bleeder with the coolant cap still off. Don't quote me on that but I'm pretty sure thats how to bleed the coolant system. Good luck
I'll try it tonight. Thanks for the help.
x2 on starting with the cap off. Everytime I bleed the coolant in my Range Rover, which are bastards to bleed BTW, I always start it with the overflow cap off and then remove the bleed line. No air trapped using that method.
Let us know how it goes.
-Mark
Let us know how it goes.
-Mark
staggs65
Moderator
the rear is probably too high. try setting it right down. I just did a MT Viper and the same thing. they sit so high in the rear already raising it much makes it too high.
And the winner is..... staggs65!
I dropped the rear of my sled to the track was on the ground, and started adding coolant to the bottle when coolant started coming out of the rear exchanger bleeder. I'd raise the rear of the sled about 2" and repeat the process. I did this a couple of times. Then I put the rear bleeder screw and with the coolant cap off, started the sled and brought it up to temperature till I could actually see circulation through the coolant bottle.
I'm not that familiar with shorties, but with the long tracks, you don't have to raise the back ends very high at all.
Thanks for all the help everyone.
I dropped the rear of my sled to the track was on the ground, and started adding coolant to the bottle when coolant started coming out of the rear exchanger bleeder. I'd raise the rear of the sled about 2" and repeat the process. I did this a couple of times. Then I put the rear bleeder screw and with the coolant cap off, started the sled and brought it up to temperature till I could actually see circulation through the coolant bottle.
I'm not that familiar with shorties, but with the long tracks, you don't have to raise the back ends very high at all.
Thanks for all the help everyone.
staggs65
Moderator
glad you got it sorted out. there seems to be a misconception that the rear of the sled needs to be jacked way up in the air. the coolant levels out in the system just like using a tube and water as a level or the old sight tubes for the oil and gas on older sleds.
if the rear is higher than the bottle when you pull the bleeder no coolant will be there. Its fine to jack it up to help force the air into the rear cooler but the rear needs to be brought back down just below the overall coolant level before venting.
if the rear is higher than the bottle when you pull the bleeder no coolant will be there. Its fine to jack it up to help force the air into the rear cooler but the rear needs to be brought back down just below the overall coolant level before venting.