Technical heater -gurgle noise. on startup.

[oldhammer]

Hi all.
I've a gurgle noise on start-up.
Up to now I've tried everything,dumped and flushed the coolant twice
Bled off the rad and matrix loads of times and no joy.

Head gasket has been replaced and the c/h was proffesionaly pressure tested and skimmed.

Any ideas.. the only thing I've not replaced is the thermostat couid it be a iffy stat.
There's no loss of coolant /runs well and don't overheat.
The noise disappears 20 seconds or so after startup.

Any ideas apreaciated.

 

[puntonew]

mine too gurgled a little on start up about a week ago after i'd bled the cooling system, but it seems to have somehow gone away on its own. came to the conclusion its extremely difficult to completely remove all air from the cooling system, as basically - the rear bleed valve is higher up than the top of the radiator expansion tank.

 

[oldhammer]

Thanks for the reply,
Mine went right for a while-but its back again.
I'm just hoping it ain't the matrix,idont fancy stripping the dashboard out.. :spin:

 

[a1ant]

Hi mate,

As puntonew says, they can be a REAL pain to bleed properly! I wouldnt worry too much as if it was anything more serious like the HG or heater matrix, you would be noticing other symptoms such as coolant loss.

Sometimes raising the front of the car as high as you can whilst bleeding the system helps.

Alan

 

[fingers99]

I've yet to try this, but on MR2s, which are utter swines to bleed, the factory toolkit comes (or so I'm told -- someone has walked off with mine) with two bleed tubes which you fit onto the bleeding points and tie up onto the open front bonnet.

 

[oldhammer]

Cheers Alan

I've tried raising the front of the car,I've tried bleeding it uphill/downhill
Ran it with the cap slightly loose and it still won't shift.

I've worked on cars for over 20 odd years and I've never seen anything
Like this that won't bleed off,
Its not major its just the noise annoying.

 

[oldhammer]

I've yet to try this, but on MR2s, which are utter swines to bleed, the factory toolkit comes (or so I'm told -- someone has walked off with mine) with two bleed tubes which you fit onto the bleeding points and tie up onto the open front bonnet.

I've bled mr2s off by having the rear of the car up on ramps
I agree they're a p.I.t.a to bleed off, no where near as bad as this sporting tho
Its doing my head in .. if it wasn't as mint as it is condition wise iwouid of had the sthil saw out on it by now.. :bang:

 

[portland_bill]

Bleed with the cap on so that pressure builds. Air in the system should rise to the bleed points. May need bleeding several time with engine running to circulate and pressurise.

Then live with it as said above as long as not losing coolant.

 

[Brendan W]

Sometimes after replacement there is no gurgle, sometimes there is but it's gone after the stat opens and the thing seems to burp itself and then there are times the gurgle persists. PITA.
I fill the rad to the tip top of the neck , fill a 500ml drinks bottle with coolant. Open the back bleeder, upend the full bottle on the rad neck, get it sealed on there, squeeze the bottle long and hard and blast the living .... out of the back bleeder. There can be a lot of air lurking some distance from it so keep going until you meet yourself coming back - as they say in these parts
Drop the excess at the rad bleeder.

 

[puntonew]

Bleed with the cap on so that pressure builds. Air in the system should rise to the bleed points. May need bleeding several time with engine running to circulate and pressurise.

Then live with it as said above as long as not losing coolant.

i think this is what reduced my post thorough bleed gurgle to zero, undoing the expansion tank cap a few times, once every day or so over the last week, especially when still warm.

 

[oldhammer]

Thanks for the replys/ideas

 

[oldhammer]

I think I'm going to try and replace the stat.

Shouid the matrix get instant flow on a punto from cold
The gurgle is instant on startup.

Another thing I've noticed is the heater warms up very quick.
Although the car doesn't over heat. It sits at just under half on the gauge no matter how long its run.

 

[homeward]

Another thing I've noticed is the heater warms up very quick.
Although the car doesn't over heat. It sits at just under half on the gauge no matter how long its run.

I'd be surprised if there's much air in the system, then; and would just be tempted to leave as is....

When I had an airlock, the temperature gauge would swing wildly around. And, when I had the first of my three thermostats (in less than 18 months), the temperature would never reach half-way....

 

[oldhammer]

Cheers homeward,

I might just leave it alone then.
I've checked it again and there's no air, so it must be something with the matrix.

I'm going to try flushing the matrix out with the hosepipe once I've picked up
2 new jubilee clips. Its got them stupid snap off/prize off throw away ones on

 

[homeward]

I'm going to try flushing the matrix out with the hosepipe once I've picked up 2 new jubilee clips. Its got them stupid snap off/prize off throw away ones on

Yup. I seem to be gradually replacing all of these with jubilees! I now can remove them in my sleep, though...!

 

[benny279]

A slight gurgling noise on start is nothing to worry about as long as your not losing coolant as mentiioned, mine did it with old engine and new engine, its like 1 sec gurgle and its gone.

On some cars this is normal because the coolant is rushing through the coolant channels to keep your engine cool, and reach the matrix in the quickest time possible so you have hot and cold air at your dispense.

It's a real pita to bleed the heater matrix on the MK2's and bleeding the cooling system in general.

You could spend hours and hours doing it and wont get rid of every bit of air out, only way is using a coolant pressure tester to, pressure bleed it and that'll bleed the system much better than doing it the manual way, but these kits cost an arm and leg , I saw one in eurocarparts for £248 I'm sure you can get cheaper ones though...But there's a way of making your own if you like being creative. (which i think has been mentioned by someone?)

But if your coolant stays at MAX everyweek I'd leave it well alone, don't mess with something that's not causing you problems.

Benny

 

[oldhammer]

Cheers.

I will try flushing the matrix and leave it at that me thinks..

I bought the car originally with a failed engine /snapped cam belt
Its seen a fair bit of k seal too by the looks of the gunk I got out of the pipework
When I rebuilt it, the matrix is the only place ididnt flush out fully.

 

[benny279]

Cheers.

I will try flushing the matrix and leave it at that me thinks..

I bought the car originally with a failed engine /snapped cam belt
Its seen a fair bit of k seal too by the looks of the gunk I got out of the pipework
When I rebuilt it, the matrix is the only place ididnt flush out fully.

Best bet is flushing the coolant system, and then bleed the system while the car is parked up a hill, or try jacking the car and get the car at an angle, this usually purges the air out of the matrix, parking up a hill will force the coolant to fill up the matrix and replace any air that resides in there.

It's pretty much trial and error to get air out of the matrix on these cars.

Benny

 

[puntonew]

Best bet is flushing the coolant system, and then bleed the system while the car is parked up a hill, or try jacking the car and get the car at an angle, this usually purges the air out of the matrix, parking up a hill will force the coolant to fill up the matrix and replace any air that resides in there.

It's pretty much trial and error to get air out of the matrix on these cars.

Benny

A bit like this?

 

[benny279]

Ill get a picture up later as im away from home at the moment.

Benny