Felder wrote:
> Which brings me to my question: I don't really "get" the instructions
> in Bently about bleeding, especially whether/when the coolant tank
> should be open or closed.
>
> Do you leave the coolant tank open and keep adding coolant, or do you
> leave it shut and stop the engine every few minutes to top it up?

Leave the tank open, with the engine revved up, and pour in coolant
until it stays full.  This will be pretty obvious when you actually do
it, since as soon as you rev up the engine it will suck the coolant
level down so fast you'll barely be able to keep up.

Do NOT let the engine go back to idle until you've put the cap back on,
or the coolant will spew back out of the tank, making a mess, letting
air back in through the radiator bleeder, and amusing any onlookers.

Once I have the system full and the air bubbles purged from the
radiator,  I like to leave the grille off and take a drive, then open
the bleeder again while the engine is still hot and running.  A tiny bit
more air usually comes out.  Then once everything has thoroughly cooled
I open the expansion tank and top it off.  Usually, if I've remembered
to fill the overflow bottle, the expansion tank is already full, since
it will pull coolant in from the bottle to make up for any air it purges
out through the cap.

If this all seems like a hassle, go read some of the posts about
bleeding wasserboxers and be glad you don't have to contend with that. ;)

--

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si