O.K. I drain and fill the (so call life time) cooling fluid. I done this many times on various cars for years. What I always did was just fill up the radiator as much as I can and drive it around the block let it cool down and add some more fluid and then drive it for a few miles and add some more fluid and I am done. I find with this method the cars never even comes close to over heating and I add less than 1/2 gallon of fluid (I figure 1/2 gallon short will not harm the car). And then I find that I don't have to add any more fluid for months if not years.

But recently I learn that there are procedures to bleed the coolant system and some cars even have bleeding screws.

So my questions is? Has what I been doing for years sufficient? I think it is. My reasoning is if there is air in the system the air would rise to the top which is the radiator cap.

What do you folks think???

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Silver Honda Accord, 2006
Silver G500, 2003
Silver SLK-320, 2002
Black ML-320, 2000
Bule Porsche 993 Targa , 1997
Silver Merkur XR4Ti, 1987

Depends on the design of the particular engine.

On the whole cast iron heads (such as the OM61X engines) are less likely to have trouble with your existing method. Aluminium alloy heads, however, ought to be treated a bit more carefully. Some vehicles actually have radiator caps that are lower than the highest point on the engine!

But if a system has bleed screws then use them!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I drill a small hole in thermostat to make bleeding easy

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

AFAIK, all Mercedes engines are self bleeding. Certainly 123,124,210 and. 201 cars are in my experience. When I hear about some of the nutty procedures employed, from hanging the front of the car on a hook to pressure filling, my assumption is that either the car has a clogged radiator or the owner has a brain fart. Your procedure works fine, as long as you are sure to run the heater.

Cars are out there which have air bleeds, and require special fill procedures. For example, Porsche 944, Jaguar XJS, Corvettes with reverse flow cooling, probably more. So check rhe FSM if you are unfamiliar with the vehicle.