I did a few searches, and didn't find anything that might have
answered my question. Sorry if I'm beating an old horse to death
here...
I'm about to replace the upper and lower radiator hoses on my 2001
Silverado (5.3 V8) as part of doing some preventative maintenance. I
found the coolant drain plug and hose on the driver's side, but it's a
sealed system otherwise with no cap to refill the radiator. How the
heck am I supposed to refill the main reservoir and how do you bleed
the thing?
Thanks for any advice.
Meat Plow - 14 Jun 2007 19:36 GMT
On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:52:13 -0700, martin.schuessler wrote:
> I did a few searches, and didn't find anything that might have
> answered my question. Sorry if I'm beating an old horse to death
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Thanks for any advice.
Call a chevy dealer yet?
Phantom_circuit - 14 Jun 2007 21:19 GMT
> On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:52:13 -0700, martin.schuessler wrote:
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Thats a dumb azz answer!!!
Duramax
Mark Schooley - 14 Jun 2007 23:40 GMT
>I did a few searches, and didn't find anything that might have
> answered my question. Sorry if I'm beating an old horse to death
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Thanks for any advice.
What about filling it through the overflow tank/resevoir?
Steve W. - 15 Jun 2007 00:12 GMT
> I did a few searches, and didn't find anything that might have
> answered my question. Sorry if I'm beating an old horse to death
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Thanks for any advice.
Attach the lower hoses, fill as much as possible through the upper
radiator hose. Connect it up. Fill the reservoir to over the hot line
and start the truck and let it warm up, with the Heat on FULL hot and
the nose parked uphill. Let it burp out the air and then top off the
reservoir. OR have a dealer pressure fill the system.

Signature
Steve W.
Near Cooperstown, New York
martin.schuessler@gmail.com - 15 Jun 2007 01:22 GMT
> Attach the lower hoses, fill as much as possible through the upper
> radiator hose. Connect it up. Fill the reservoir to over the hot line
> and start the truck and let it warm up, with the Heat on FULL hot and
> the nose parked uphill. Let it burp out the air and then top off the
> reservoir. OR have a dealer pressure fill the system.
I did talk to a dealer during lunch today, and he did mention that
they use
a pressure fill. I'm just worried that doing it the "other" way could
cause air
to be trapped and the truck overheat.
martin.schuessler@gmail.com - 15 Jun 2007 01:40 GMT
FWIW - I just talked to a buddy of mine who has a Chilton manual. The
steps it outlines to refill is:
1) Reconnect hoses
2) Fill to "Full cold" mark
3) Leave cap off, start engine, let idle one minute
4) Install cap, but leave loose, pressure must be able to escape
5) Raise engine speed to about 3000rpm in 30sec cycles until normal
operating temp is reached
6) Turn off engine, remove cap, wait until hissing stops before
removing cap
7) Restart engine, idle one minute, refill to 1/2" above "full cold"
mark
8) Repeat 4-7 until full
Still kind worries me to have the engine running (even for a short
period of time) without much
of any coolant in the system.
I guess I could refill the radiator through the disconnected upper
coolant hose as much as possible
to alleviate some of my fears. I wonder if some of the coolant will
run out of the reservoir and fill
the radiator on its own though. Is there a vent for the air to escape
to allow this?