Coolant flush burping

I just did the coolant flush for my 2007 Camry.

Started it yesterday evening . after draining (and washing) , I poured in 1 gallon of coolant and then realized I need more. Rushed to the parts store to get another gallon (used a different car) and it was dark by the time I returned. Filled up radiator and reservoir , started the car , ran it for about 15 minutes and topped up the radiator thinking I will do rest of the burping today.

From what I read , it looks like it need an hour for complete burping.

Today morning opened the radiator cap and it is full. Started the car , turned on heat and let it run for an hour , radiator is still full . Also squeezed the hoses but no air .

Did I mess up something by not completing the burping yesterday itself or burning got completed yesterday itself (in 15 minutes). It took about 1.5 gallon pre-mixed coolant.

 

Air in the coolant will rise to the top of the cooling system. The hose from the cooling system to the overflow tank is located near or at the top of the cooling system. Therefore, when the coolant system pressure is above atmospheric, any trapped air will be forced out the overflow tank since it is at atmospheric pressure. Depending on the amount of vented air, you may or may not have to add additional coolant. Check your owner's manual for the correct coolant level in the overflow tank. Good luck.

 

Flushing the system with fresh water then filling with pre-mix is bad business.
You don't know if you got all the fresh water drained so you won't know if you have sufficient protection.

If you do a complete fresh water flush then you want to add concentrated antifreeze at a 50/50 ratio.
If you know your cooling system holds 12 quarts (just picking a number here) then you begin by adding 6 quarts of antifreeze concentrate - then top off with water. You know that you are 50/50.

 

OP, is it 4 or 6 cyl?
No, it should not take 1 hr to burp a Camry. Simply open rad cap, fill it flush with top, start engine. Some coolant will overflow, then go inside the radiator. So you stand there and keep adding it. Then, for a brief moment, as engine heats up, it will start overflowing. You'll lose some, but not a whole lot. Then, t-stat opens, and it all sucks into the rad. You keep adding until it levels to the rad neck, put cap on, and add to the higher mark in expansion canister. Turn engine off. Vacuum will suck coolant from expansion canister into the rad as engine cools. In about 2 hrs, on COLD engine, check level in canister and in rad. Add as needed. You should be done.
I'd say, as far as you topped it yesterday, and it's a good level today, you are fine. I'd simply start the engine, open heat full blast, wait till she reaches operating temp, let her sit at that for 2 minutes, then shut down and let cool down. Check level.
1.5 gal of coolant looks not enough even for 4 cyl. I am not sure, what exactly you did as "flush"? Run water through it with some chemicals? Have you drained water out completely from the system then? From BOTH rad and engine? As if you did, 1.5 gal is not enough for the entire system.

 

Thanks for all the good reply. Here are some additions --

1) I did flush with water (no chemicals added) . Drained out completely as far as I understand. Ran the engine for sometime and then opened the drain plug till it stopped dripping

2) Checked manual. Looks like the capacity is 5.5 qts .. so 1.5 gallon should be about right

3) Used Pre-Mixed Toyota coolant . But to be sure there is not too much residual water will drain another 0.5 gallon and empty the can of coolant

 

Doesn't anyone use a anti-freeze hydrometer to measure their level of freeze/boiling protection . . . . Prestone sells one for less than $6.00 ?

I've never known anyone who buys this pre-mixed 50/50 AntiFreeze . . . . that's pretty expensive water, isn't it.

And some places around here actually charge more per gallon of 50/50 than they do for 100% Anti-freeze Coolant !

 

There are only 2 reasons that I would ever buy premixed anti-freeze; it was all they had and I couldn't wait or the local water supply was so bad it couldn't be trusted to be used in the cooling system.

Some vehicles can be a hassle to burp but I've never spent an hour doing so [maybe 15 minutes] and then continue to check the coolant level over the next few days. Never had any issues doing it that way.

 

You never burped Ford Taurus, marksr. It's not an hour. It's two DAYS non stop hassle.

OP, engine has it's own peacock to drain engine block. Presuming you used it?

I have no problems using premix. It's distilled water. None wrong with it.

 

Did not find how to drain Engine . Just drained the radiator .
As for pre-mixed , I wanted to use the Toyota Super long coolant (change at 100K miles interval) and got that only in pre-mixed variety. Also, with temperature in teens , it is preferred not to handle water

BTW, drove for about 20 minutes and the recovery tank was at about half mark. Topped it. Will drive for sometime tomorrow again .

 

"Did not find how to drain Engine . Just drained the radiator . "

You said in your original post you did a flush....

You still don't know the final ratio of your coolant- carry on, do it your way.

 

I drained the radiator, poured water , ran Engine, drained water and filled up with coolant ... Whatever that is called drain and refill or flush. All the details are in my first post.

The capacity of radiator , per manual, is 6.5 qts (I earlier mentioned 5.5 , I stand corrected).

Don't know what is there to ridicule if I do not know where the two peacock to drain Engine Block -- did not find anything in net. I just found the drain plug to drain the radiator. If you know and share , that will be appreciated.

 

I think you are fine.
No one is ridiculing you. Guys here are very nice, I know them for years. It's in your imagination.
Flush means disconnecting upper radiator hose from radiator, inserting garden hose into radiator, removing thermostat, starting engine and turning water flow on through the hose. Adding some build up removing chemicals.
Then fresh water from hose circulates through entire cooling system, removing build up and debris.
Then it is all drained completely, t-stat reinstalled, system filled and burped.
You only did drain and fill. Partial drain, you still have water left in engine block. Not a lot of it, as you turned engine on. yet, some is left as when coolant/water levels falls below the water pump level, what's left is not circulated. That's why they have block drain peacock at the lowermost engine part.
Unless you live in VERY cold area, I'd not be much worried about it. You can always remove hose from expansion canister, drain canister and add undiluted coolant to it. It'' get sucked into the system eventually and mix with water left in engine block.

https://www.google.com/search?q=engi...CMpYN66FL5M%3A

 

My wife has owned a Mercury Sable for almost 13 yrs. I don't recall any real issues flushing and changing the coolant on it. Not as easy as vehicles used to be but not near as difficult as some Jeeps.

 

I guess. My 87 Taurus with 4 cyl took exactly that - 2 days and driving with jug of coolant in trunk. After several overheats.
But I believe that car was specifically designed by Ford as training vehicle for DIY mechanics. So that they can learn EVERYTHING about repairs.

 

On 4.7 Jeeps there is a removable plug aft of the thermostat that you remove and continue to fill the radiator until it pukes out the hole, then replace the plug, thus "burping" the system. On my Dodge Ram with a Cummins, my diesel mechanic just drills a 1/16" hole in the thermostat itself. Some brands of thermostats come with that hole already in it. It aids in a slow burp.