Radiator cap funnel, eliminate air bubbles
 

Hey I finally found a webpage for the tool that my mechanic used. Hopefully this will help a lot of people:

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...chmentid=71346

original manufacturer: Lisle
http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=224
more info at a reseller's website:
http://www.drivewerks.com/catalog/sh...CAT591_pg2.htm


Here's how it works: the funnel makes a good seal with the radiator cap, so you can fill the funnel with about a Liter of coolant, let the engine run for 5-10 minutes, and remove a ton of air from the cooling system. Try it , I was amazed at how many air bubbles were removed, even after pouring slowly and leaving the throttle body hose open to let air escape. I probably removed .25 L or so; I can't imagine what kind of havoc that would have caused this summer.
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...id=71347&stc=1

Their website has some other cool stuff such as easy hose remover pliers: http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=834

-scott-

I have this tool and it is a life saver. Every person who worke on their own car should have one.
I wouldn't do a coolant fill without it.

I didn't know such things existed.

What I used to do was to jack the front end of the car up, insert a funnel and do what this tool does. But it was always a pain in the ass with the coolant getting hot etc..

I have a tight fitting funnel and I do the same thing to help get the air out, works like a charm.
Joe

WOW - both of those are uber cool! I bet that hose removal tool would work AWESOME on fuel lines, BTW. Those are always a bitch to pull off.

Not to mention both are CHEAP. I figured they'd be high-dollar items.

Thanks!
Dale

The hose removal pliers can be a life saver at times. And I had never see the funnel before, but it is a damned good idea!

Thanks for the link. I've been meaning to get one for a while.

John

Yeah, I'm bringing this back from the dead....:)

Just found the EXACT tool pictured above at Pep Boys the previous weekend. It was only $9.99, and it was back with the oil/coolant/filters area.

Comes with 3 sets of caps and fittings - set "B" fits the RX-7 neck perfectly. Nice, tight, leak-free fit.

This is a really good idea to have handy after a coolant flush/fill! Air bubbles can and will cause cooling problems!

Dale

Sweet. guess i'm going to have to try this as well..

Really, $10 at Pep Boys?? I paid ~$20 online, couldn't find it at my local stores...

-s-

Could someone get me one of these and send it to the UK, I can paypal the cash across to you :D

Thanks!!

I saw couple of machanics in Japan used those things to get the air bubbles out on rx7. I didn't know that you can get those goodies here...very nice! :bigthumb:

Get them here??? They are made in the US

I know, I just didnt know that we had one of those in US.

Glad I'm reading this. I had my radiator flushed at KD about a month ago (had them do it along with a few other things). Now I hear A LOT of bubbling after a good drive. A couple of nights ago I checked the coolant level with the engine completely cold. There was NO coolant showing up on the dipstick. I know I obviously have to add more (I didn't drive it since the low coolant discovery). :confused:

Part of me was really mad because I wonder if they left some coolant out, knowing I would go to them for an overheat problem or worse. I don't want to believe they did that on purpose...

Anyway - I need to top off. I did see this the other day at Pep Boys. Thanks for the heads up.

A word of caution: Remove the throttle body coolant line when filling up!! I have this funnel thing and it's great but it still couldn't get all the air out of the system when I flushed it. I was really close to overheating while using it, then I removed the TB coolant line and everything worked out great.

From their website: http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_dealer_finder.cfm


Outside the United States and Canada contact our Export Agent:
Browne Dreyfus International, Ltd.
305 Madison Avenue, Suite 420
New York, NY 10165 USA
PHONE: 212-867-7700
FAX: 212-867-7820
WEB URL: www.bdi-ltd.com
E-MAIL: info@bdi-ltd.com


That might be cheaper than having one of us try to ship things overseas. It's really a pretty simple concept, I'd be surprised if there isn't already a company who makes them on your side of the pond.

-s-

Thanks, I haven't even seen Mechanics use these this side of the pond :( - we're well behind with good tools or they cost about $100 :(

I'll get in touch!

Thanks!

It's not a common tool here either, I'd never seen one until spring 2004.

-s-

Can I get some elaboration on those TB lines that you disconnect? Is it the line on the firewall side? Do we remove the whole line or just one end of it at the TB? We leave this disc. the whole time the car is running? Then attach it at the end before OR after we turn the car off? Sorry if its too many questions I just dont want to mess up and want to be exact on things.

Jeremy

The TB coolant line is disconnected at the back of the TB near the Firewall. Just disconnect it and leave it hanging there. Now fill up your coolant in the fill neck and make sure the AST & overflow tank is filled too. You want to fill it up (while the car is off and cool) until coolant starts to leak out of the TB coolant line you disconnected. Now you reconnect the TB coolant line.

Your car should have most of the air bubbles out.

As for the funnel tool.. This is what I do. After performing the above steps, I connect the funnel tool to the coolant fill neck and leave it half full with coolant.. now start the motor and let it run until the thermostat opens and it'll shoot all the damn air bubbles out...make sure you also leave the heater turned on so it can circulate through the heater core.

sorry to reopen this thread... but i was under the impression that the sole purpose of the AST was to remove air from the cooling system?? maybe air in my system is the cause of all my overheating woes? what then does the AST do? ill have to stop by pep boys to get one of these things

The AST is only able to remove a small amount of air each time the engine heats and then cools. If there is a lot of air in the system, this could take quite a few cycles of heating and cooling.

It is cool though I've had no trouble without it. Thanx though.

none of the pep boys or auto places carry this funnel :(

pep boys should have it, they are registered distrubutors for it...i found the funnel at car quest

I bought mine online. It was about $5 more than Pep Boys because I had to pay shipping.


-s-

scotty,
so what was your cost with shipping? online store?

i remmeber this thread.


i still havnt made it down to pep boys... lol

I paid $25 including shipping, but I don't remember the online store. I think I used the first one I found on www.froogle.com . Search for "Lisle 22150" .

-s-

i have a lisle funnel but it takes a lot of idling to get the air out of the system. anyone have experience with tools like this one to purge the system:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Uview...spagenameZWDVW

its also a cooling system pressure tester.

Coolant Funnel
 

After you leave the car running with funnel, do you turn of engine and then remove funnel... or plug funnel and then turn off engine...

Thanks

W

I got one of these also, these things are great.

Question: I'm using this radiator funnel now, bubbles are coming out but the fluid began turning brown. Is this anything to worry about?

Also the funnel started overflowing so I've shut the car down to allow it to settle.

brown - seems like you didnt totally flush it.
overflowing - the coolant expands when it gets hot

Also as it warms up, the thermostat opens, and without it being sealed, the flow from the water pump overwhelms the lower radiator hose.

Sevensix: can you post another link to that product.

I found mine on the Snap On Tools truck that drive around the local dealerships. It was only $32.

thanks for bumping this thread. i was looking the other day for information on this elusive radiator funnel!

Hey Guys, sorry to bump this thread but I have a Napa part number for this funnel, i was hard at work (still hard at work lol) reading posts and came across this thread. So I figure "Hey i wonder if we have one of those on the shelf" and we do.

Ultra Pro Part Number is 79392
That is Napa in Canada

Hope this helps

Mike

Found this tool on amazon




Just picked it up

Sorry to bump this old thread... My FD puked a bunch of coolant from the overflow tank, so I've been spending a bunch of time reading the big coolant thread which led me here after I replaced the filler neck cap and the AST cap (had a 1.1bar cap on it, replaced it with a 0.9bar cap).

Using the Lisle funnel, I did get quite a few bubbles out of the coolant system after revving the engine and turning the heater on. Took two cycles from engine cold to hot, then warm to hot again. Now when I shut the hot (~230 degrees F) engine off, I no longer hear bubbling/gurgling sounds while the car cools down. More importantly, no champagne bubbles were observed.

Two questions remain:

1. Is it normal while using this funnel when the engine gets hot (~230 degrees F) that the coolant will rise and boil in the funnel? I was able to turn the engine off before I spilled too much coolant.
2. I still have the original AST from 1995 installed in my car. Is Pettit the only one making aftermarket replacements? If so, has Pettit addressed some of the negative comments I've read here about their AST design/construction?

1. Yes, I think 230F is hot enough to boil for most water/coolant mixes. It's definitely hot enough to boil pure water. Remember there is no pressure in the system when the funnel is installed, the pressure would have happened with the cap on.

2. I think there are others, but I haven't looked into ASTs for a while. Hopefully someone else can chime in.


Also, I've recently seen similar funnels but made with clear plastic instead of yellow. What a good idea.

I've never been a fan of the Pettit AST. It can work, it's just a poor design. Nipples are too small, the cap flange can distort, etc.

RX7.com has a nice AST -
RX7.COM | FD Engine Cooling

To answer other questions, yes, it's normal for the coolant to boil when open like that. That's why normally there's a pressure cap, to raise the boiling point.

Dale

+1 that the RX7.com AST is good stuff. Rotary Performance also sells a good AST which is what I have on my car (RX7.com AST was sold out at the time).

An overflowing overflow tank is a sign of compromised water seals as well as bubbles in the coolant, white exhaust smoke, and coolant on the spark plugs. You say you're not seeing any bubbles. Is that while the motor is running and up to temp? If no bubbles then, and none of the other symptoms, you may be good but best to keep an eye on things. Another test is a pressure test to see if the system will hold pressure

Full overflow tank can also be from a failed radiator cap, the line from the cap to the tank having a small hole, or the system having a leak and overheating/boiling.

It's possible it's a coolant seal in the engine but that's one of a few possibilities.


Dale

Yep and it wasn't brought up in previous comments as a "possibility", hence my post

Thank you so much everyone who responded!
@scotty305 - Yup, the funnel I got via the amazon link above was clear. Made it easy to check for champagne bubbles indicating a bad internal engine coolant seal as per the big coolant thread. Thank you for confirming the boil over condition.
@DaleClark and @SpinningDorito - perfect info on the alternative AST, will be ordering one from RX7.com tonight. :D
Also thanks Dale for the FC thermoswitch info from long ago. I'll be looking into making that change soon too.
@TomU - yeah I shared your concern and was worried about the internal engine seals which was why I wanted to try the Lisle funnel to get more info. My motor only has 38k miles on it, so it would suck if it already needed a rebuild...

I didn't mention that I took out the passenger side fender liner and did a visual inspection of the overflow tank. It looks to be in great condition surprisingly and I didn't see any issues at the tank neck.
I think it's time to give the car a wash and see how she does on a drive this toasty weekend (100+ degrees predicted here), but not stray too far from home. I do have a Defi water temp gauge installed, so I don't have to rely on the dashboard "ur effed" temp gauge. ;)

Heat is the Achilles heal of these cars. Think it's detailed well in the Big Fat Cooling Thread. Koyo radiator, R-1 passenger oil cooler (if you can get one), downpipe and you should be GTG. More radical steps include relocating the battery, V-mount and ditching the A/C (condenser sits in front of the radiator)

My seals went at high 50's, but use contributed more than mileage (tracked it). Hopefully yours is due to a pressure leak as Dale mentioned. But keep an eye on the tell tale signs. The aftermarket temp gauge should really help you know when things are getting a little too warm