I replaced the thermostat in my 2002 Olds Alero V6.
When I went to bleed the coolant air, I missed a step and want to know if I did any harm.
Here's what I did. In parantheses is what i skipped.
- Fill surge tank with coolant to "cold" line
- Start engine with pressure cap off (My bad: I left it on)
- Run engine until thermostat opens and upper radiator hose is hot.
- Open bleed valve and allow air to escape.
- When bleed valve emits no air, and only a solid stream of coolant, close valve.
- Replace surge tank pressure cap.
I ran the engine for a soild ten minutes, and coolant & air spurted out of the bleed valve. I never achieved the "solid stream of coolant". Was this because I had the pressure cap on?
Did I hurt anything?
Right now the car is cooling down. When it is cold again, I will repeat the process correctly.