I continue to run cold and have done so last winter and again this cold season. cardboard in front of the radiator helps somewhat. forget changing the thermostat as i did that twice. earlier suggestions of clogging inside the cooling system don't hold water.

here's my question: way back when i changed the timimg belt, etc and also when i changed the thermostat again, i did not bleed the air out of the system. don't ask me why, i just figured the air bubbles would eventually work out.

is it at all possible after driving for almost a year and a half of winter, summer and now winter again, that there could still be air in the system?

 

I have the same problem - two thermostats, etc, but I've bled the system (with both bleeders), at least I THINK I have.

What is the bently/dealer method of bleeding the cooling system?

 

How much coolant have you added since your timing belt change a 1.5 years ago?

 

Check the FAQ in my sig.

 

what is running cold, oil or coolant temp? Where is the coolant needle when cruising and/or idling for 5+min?

If you are just cruising on the highway, cold winter day, after a cold start, the coolant needle will hit the first mark. It won't go much futher unless you are idling/ stop-n-go often.

 

i got several questions and other used my post to ask other questions, but nobody addressed the bleeding issue. can air stay in the system this long?

because my daily commute is very short, a couple months ago, i also asked about plug in coolant heaters. (to plug in at night). there was lots of discussion on cars with winter packages, but no one it appears have ever installed one of these things. i was really hoping to find someon who had.

now to answer the questions you asked me.

running cold, I mean: the coolant temp needle will not reach the first mark unless it idles for a good while. at that point, there will be some heat in the car. driving on the highway after that and the needle will go below the first mark and heat will be cool. this winter it is worse than last year.

placing something (i'm using a piece of formica as cardboard deteriorates) in front of the radiator, the needle will go slightly above the first mark on the highway. it will go halfway between 1st and 2nd in town driving. in both cases, the heat will be ok.

how much coolant add? i don't think much, but i can't remember.

someone suggested my mixture wasn't good enough so i took out some and added more. (yes, i used the phosphat free kind. i think my ratio now is 65-35. it did get improve a little earlier in the year when the temps weren't as low, but now with temps in single digits, it's hard to tell how much improvement.

 

if you blank off all or part of the rad and the engine gets warmer that is bacause you are stopping cooling airflow through the rad. If the engine is not yet hot enough for the stat to open, then there should not be any water flowing through the rad so the stat is not doing its job.

Fit a new stat and the problem will go.

There is virtually no way there could still be an airlock in the system, especially after a summer of driving, the engine would have overheated many times. It is essential that you bleed the system after draining it. Yop could cause the head gasket to fail at the least or a crack in one or both heads if you do not do this.

 

Too much cooling, is a circulation problem. Too much circulation. I agree that you must have a bad; stuck wide open thermostat.

What you should try to do is pinch one of the radiator hoses closed so that the coolant cannot circulate thru the radiator. Without this cooling effect, the temp should go up to a normal level. Once you reach the normal operating range, release the clamp and watch the temp guage. You should see themp go down to what you have been experiencing.

Good luck.

 

Why don't you just bleed the system now ??

 

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The outside air temp plays a big part, in how warm your car will get! On really cold days, I go outside, and let my Audi run for 15-20 minutes to let it warm up! Cold leather sucks! ;O)

Air, trapped in your system will actually make the engine more likely to over-heat, as air/steam does not transfer heat, so too much air will tend to make the engine run hot.

I dont think your problem is trapped air.

Hows your gas mileage? An engine running too cold, will burn more gas, plus pump black smoke out the exhaust pipe.

You might want to Ohm-out the temp sensor?

I'm leaning towards a faulty temp indication system?