I recently took my FD to Goodyear to get a front-end alignment and I figured, might as well get oil and coolant change while I’m there. The tech said to me that they won’t do a coolant change on my FD because they are unable to “burp” the system and are worried about air-locking it, causing the engine to overheat. Since he is a trained mechanic and I am not, I took him for his word but, it leads me to some questions:

1) Have I been changing the coolant wrong all these years - I have never burped anthing on a car?

2) How am I supposed to "burp" the system?

3) Is this not the exact purpose why the AST is placed at the highest point of the engine to collect any air left in the system – thus minimizing any localized overheating?

Please correct me if I am wrong and I thank you for your help.

 

Remove the throttle body coolant line when you fill the system. It will allow air to escape when you fill the coolant.

 

1.) If you haven't been burping the system then you been doing it wrong and have been lucky you didn't over heat it.

2.)Like Adam said disconnect the hose at the TB when filling and give a slight squeeze of the lower radiator hose till you see coolant come out of the hose or TB then hook it back up.


3.) The AST isn't the highest point in the cooling system 9the TB is) and it will remove trace amounts of air in the system) not large amounts)

You were indeed lucky to even find a mechanic that was aware the FD's had to be burped and knew it could over heat if not done properly.