Coolant Problems

HELP
Just bleed the coolant syetm via the two bleed nipples one at front right hand side and the other on the water pump housing, took the car around block, returned and found that coolant was being spitted out of the top of the lid, removed and found that the expansion chamber almost virtually emptied itself.
Before I released the pressure the pipes were solid with pressure, and when following the procedure feels that there is no water in the system.
Is there another way to do this ?, Have I still got an air lock ?
Dont really want to drive the car until I know this is right.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPP

I've found it always takes a couple of attempts to clear the airlocks .Always have to do it twice from a completely empty system . Bleed it again ,then just leave it running till the fans cut in .You should see the temp gauge rise ,then drop off when the thermostat opens ,then rise again .
Takes about 10 mins from cold for mine to do this but I have a lot bigger rad than std .
Make sure the fans cut in just above the 90 on the std gauge .If it continues to rise after the fans cut in them you still have some air somewhere .

Hiya,
Is it normal for this to happen as after I had taken it for a little very careful drive not it was spewing out every where.
best I presume to release the bleed points completely and let it pi i mean run through,
tried it a few times, tried also taking off the bottom hose from the rad at the front when I do the bleed procedure and run the car it does feel that the system warms, prsume air lock correct as the new coolant changes to a kaki brown.
is it best to tighten up in a specific order ?
do i fill up the expansion chamber completely or leave some space ?
have bled again but probably will require a few more goes for my attempt
Regards

The rad bleed is usually a quick effort ,do that first .It does take a while at the water pump for the air to escape .Fill the expansion tank and squeeze the bottom hose in the rear .
Most important to run it and see when the fans cut in .

Nice one I will give it a go tomorrow, I thought that once the fluid was running freeley that was it, looks like im going to use a fair bit of coolant mix.

Filled and ran , temp rose then dropped off as, then continued to rise but fans did not cut in, going to repeat a few more times tomorow so fingers crossed it will sort it

I have found that the only successful way of refilling a system having emptied is to poor in the coolant in very slowly so as not to produce a "water block" which stops the air coming up the hoses as the water goes in to displaces it, every so often stop for a few minutes, and, as Lee says, squeeze the lower rubber hoses a few times, and you will see air bubbles comming up into the reservoir. When you have got as much as possible in, screw the cap on, and go for a 10min run (not stationary), you then have to leave the engin to cool before unscrewing the cap in order to repeat the process. If you dont allow the engin to cool, it is likely to blow back the coolant when you remove the cap. According to my info there is 15 litres of coolant in the system, so keep a check of how much you put in, and that will give you a guide as to when it is full. The only other thing I would do in the case of the Alp, is, before refilling, unscrew the two bleed valves, and do them up only when fluid starts to run from them, that way air can escape from another two places during the fill. But make sure they are done up before you go for the run.
This is one of the times when what appears to be a long winded process, turns out to be the quickest in the end

So far bled the system four times each time a liitle bit of air comes from the front bleed point, took the car for a gentle drive, returned and still had a little air in the front so keeping at it as still no fans coming on so still got some air in the system, away til Sunday then back at it so will be back on Sunday.

Are you sure your fans work ?

Easy way to test them is to connect together the 2 wires that go onto the radiator thermostat. Can be done when the car is cold too. If they do, maybe the thermostat is stuck open internally.

Martin, your profile does not say where you are, there may be another owner locally who can help too.

Firstly whoops now updated with a location. Re possible that something is amiss on the control circuit to the relays that control the fans, went for an initial crude stick a bloody great pair of pliers between the terminals on the rad thermostat and see, nowt happened so will go through the circuit tomorrow, with the correct tools. The temp does back off though proving it is working.
My only concern that I had was that after giving it a little shall we say the pipes were fit to explode hence the release through the expansion cap which made it a tad messy in the engine bay, it does seem to be getting better, there is movement as every time i put some nice mixture in it soon goes to that kaki brown so coolant is being pushed around.
Going to check out the fans fully tomorrow to see where if at all the voltage is being lost, having a look at the drawings it shows some relays, are they easily accesible or is it a strip down ? and also bleed again.
Counting down the days to become a member of the brotherhood

Now then, carried out tests and found that the thermostat is okay and also switches correctly, Lee was correct the fans are not working, tried to trace through the circuit and the colours as per usual don't marry up so quickest method to check the fans out, relays appear to be okay but need to verify the fans.
Next question is do I drop down the front bumper to get to them or is there an easier method ?
Please tell me if they are f@*ked are they repairable or are they gonna cost an arm and a leg ?

[BIG_MVS]

Hi Martin,

Nice to see your using the forum as discussed! Not been on earlier to respond as I've been on my jollies.

I had this on old Merlin Temp sensor in the rad was knackered. Does the fan blade spin freely when you spin it, if not get the wd40 out as well.

Hi Mart
Both fans do spin okay, thinking that need to get at them and put direct supply onto them, wondering what the best method at getting at them is ?

Regards

Well as usual spent a few hours working out the circuit and then where the relays are, as usual manual drawings are not correct
Traced through looks like the fans are both u/s, only one more check is to run up and check relay operation, shorted through to see but nothing so one more test then check the fans.
Any ideas about getting at these easily?