GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Just looking for some opinions/advice on a coolant change. I plan on doing one before the winter. I'm familiar with the steps and how to drain the rad and what not.

I'm just concerned with 'burping' the system after. How is this done? I've read about a couple of different methods and was wondering if there is one that's best?

Also my vibe is past the 5 year mark but well under the recommended 240, 000 km mark(currently at 136, 000). Should I be concerned at all?

Thanks in advance!

I have been told that coolant kind of changes chemically over time.

What I did to burp it was pour coolant in and gently squeeze and release the upper hose a few times to get bubbles out, add coolant, drive it till it was at operating temp, park it until it was cool again, and repeat. I didn't have any issues with it getting hot after that, so apparently it worked out.

The last car I did coolant with was the 2004 Impala with the 3800 series II V6, and I was really concerned about overheating it with a vaporlock as I had replaced some elbows on the tensioner and the burping screw on top of the thermostat housing didn't seem as adequate as the method I used on the Vibe. I feel that as long as you put the car on a slight incline so the radiator is slightly above the upper radiator hose, you'll get the most air out. Now that I think about it, it's already the highest point in the system as long as the heater core isn't somewhere weird.

Thanks,

Just to clarify, did you squeeze the hose while the car was running or while it was off right after you filled the rad?

Did you need to top up alot afterwards? I just need to know how much coolant to have on hand when I do this. I only plan on draining and refilling the rad and then doing that every 2 years or so.

And also wanted to say my coolant is still crystal clear and really clean. No signs of debris or any discoloration.

Whenever I changed the coolant in my vibe I would jack the front end up or park on an incline. Fill the radiator, run engine with cap off, heater on full blast, until the thermostat opens up. At this point the coolant level will go down, keep filling up the radiator until it won't take anymore. This whole time, squeeze the top hose every 20 seconds or so to remove bubbles.
When done, put rad cap back on, fill overflow tank. Check the overflow level every day for the next week just to be sure.

Done this 3X and no air trap issues.

Are you using Toyota coolant? Hopefully not the Dexcool garbage.

c2cummin wrote:Thanks,

Just to clarify, did you squeeze the hose while the car was running or while it was off right after you filled the rad?

Did you need to top up alot afterwards? I just need to know how much coolant to have on hand when I do this. I only plan on draining and refilling the rad and then doing that every 2 years or so.

And also wanted to say my coolant is still crystal clear and really clean. No signs of debris or any discoloration.

I squeezed while it wasn't running because I was a wimp.

I got non-diluted Toyota red long life coolant and only needed the one gallon I diluted 50/50 with distilled water.

trb wrote:Are you using Toyota coolant? Hopefully not the Dexcool garbage.

Yes I am using the Toyota coolant. I couldn't believe the manual actually said to use the GM garbage. A GM dealer tried telling me it was dexcrud in it for sure.

c2cummin wrote:

trb wrote:Are you using Toyota coolant? Hopefully not the Dexcool garbage.

Yes I am using the Toyota coolant. I couldn't believe the manual actually said to use the GM garbage. A GM dealer tried telling me it was dexcrud in it for sure.

I know. I crossed it out in my son's 06 manual and wrote in "USE TOYOTA COOLANT ONLY - THIS IS A TOYOTA DRIVETRAIN, NOT GM!" I also noted to use Toyota T-IV transmission fluid. Plus he knows to ask me before he does anything or has it done.

trb wrote:

c2cummin wrote:

trb wrote:Are you using Toyota coolant? Hopefully not the Dexcool garbage.

Yes I am using the Toyota coolant. I couldn't believe the manual actually said to use the GM garbage. A GM dealer tried telling me it was dexcrud in it for sure.

I know. I crossed it out in my son's 06 manual and wrote in "USE TOYOTA COOLANT ONLY - THIS IS A TOYOTA DRIVETRAIN, NOT GM!" I also noted to use Toyota T-IV transmission fluid. Plus he knows to ask me before he does anything or has it done.

Did the same for the transmission as well. A GM dealer wanted 13, almost 14 dollars per litre of fluid. A toyota dealer wanted only 7!

I was surprised to find out the premix coolant isn't that expensive either. I think it was around 17 bucks a jug at the dealer.

lannvouivre wrote:

c2cummin wrote:Thanks,

Just to clarify, did you squeeze the hose while the car was running or while it was off right after you filled the rad?

Did you need to top up alot afterwards? I just need to know how much coolant to have on hand when I do this. I only plan on draining and refilling the rad and then doing that every 2 years or so.

And also wanted to say my coolant is still crystal clear and really clean. No signs of debris or any discoloration.

I squeezed while it wasn't running because I was a wimp.

I got non-diluted Toyota red long life coolant and only needed the one gallon I diluted 50/50 with distilled water.

Right on. I planned on just draining the rad and using the premix stuff. I don't see there being any problems doing it that way. I'm not going to drain the block. From what I've read very little comes out from draining it there.

c2cummin wrote:Right on. I planned on just draining the rad and using the premix stuff. I don't see there being any problems doing it that way. I'm not going to drain the block. From what I've read very little comes out from draining it there.

Like 4 drops will come out, all of them will land on your face, and the little drain is really hard to find and get on anyway. You can remove the thermostat to drain the block, I found.

PS you can even pull the thermostat by removing the intake manifold and leaving the alternator on, but it is a very tight squeeze. I only did it because my main wire got welded to the alternator's rectifier stud due to being too loose, thus rendering the threads destroyed. Removing both the alternator and intake manifold makes the thermostat a breeze to access, but take care not to accidentally tilt the alternator into the coolant overflow tank because the stud will puncture it and you'll have to slap a patch of plastic over it and feel like an idiot.

Well....I finally did this today. Is it safe to say that if I have heat blasting through the vents that it was done correctly?

One weird thing that did happen when I was finished. I went for a drive and had lots of heat. When I got back and put it in park the heat went away. So I squeezed the hose a couple of times and went for another drive and came back and parked and still had heat that time.

Should I be worried at all?

Is your temp gauge spiking up and dropping or anything? That would indicate bubbles in the hoses. It may still have a little air in it, not sure if it's a big concern though.

lannvouivre wrote:Is your temp gauge spiking up and dropping or anything? That would indicate bubbles in the hoses. It may still have a little air in it, not sure if it's a big concern though.

Temp gauge wasn't spiking. Does it even make sense that it blew hot air while driving and not while parked? And again it didn't do that after the second drive around. It blew hot air driving and while parked. Maybe I had an air bubble at first and got rid of it?

Also....would air bubbles not work their way out of the overflow eventually anyway?

I also noticed the air gets hotter with higher RPM's. Not sure if it did this before or not since I rarely use my heat. I only turn it on once car is fully warm and don't even run it that long when I'm driving.

c2cummin wrote:Well....I finally did this today. Is it safe to say that if I have heat blasting through the vents that it was done correctly?

One weird thing that did happen when I was finished. I went for a drive and had lots of heat. When I got back and put it in park the heat went away. So I squeezed the hose a couple of times and went for another drive and came back and parked and still had heat that time.

Should I be worried at all?

Was the radiator cap off when you squeezed the hoses?
To get air bubbles out the car has to be:
-parked
-radiator cap off
-preferable elevated slightly in the front
-heater and vents on full blast
-run up to operating temperature from a cooled state
-hoses squeezed once the thermostat opens
Do this until you're confident the coolant is fully circulating and there are no more bubbly sounds coming from the hoses.
Then turn the car off, top off the fluids and put the cap on.

sideshowalan wrote:

c2cummin wrote:Well....I finally did this today. Is it safe to say that if I have heat blasting through the vents that it was done correctly?

One weird thing that did happen when I was finished. I went for a drive and had lots of heat. When I got back and put it in park the heat went away. So I squeezed the hose a couple of times and went for another drive and came back and parked and still had heat that time.

Should I be worried at all?

Was the radiator cap off when you squeezed the hoses?
To get air bubbles out the car has to be:
-parked
-radiator cap off
-preferable elevated slightly in the front
-heater and vents on full blast
-run up to operating temperature from a cooled state
-hoses squeezed once the thermostat opens
Do this until you're confident the coolant is fully circulating and there are no more bubbly sounds coming from the hoses.
Then turn the car off, top off the fluids and put the cap on.

Thanks,

I did this procedure afterwards and everything is all good now...no air pockets!

This is actually a fairly easy thing to do, I'm amazed dealerships and garages charge so much for it. It only took a while because the radiator took a bit of time to drain. It's probably easier than changing the oil!

c2cummin wrote: Also my vibe is past the 5 year mark but well under the recommended 240, 000 km mark(currently at 136, 000). Should I be concerned at all?

Thanks in advance!

I'm asking myself the same question. My Vibe is a 2009 (bought in 2008) which now has 177,000 km (110,000 miles) and I never changed the coolant so far. I just had an oil change this morning and the coolant still looks great and good for up to -50°C. Should I still change it soon?

Eloi wrote:

c2cummin wrote: Also my vibe is past the 5 year mark but well under the recommended 240, 000 km mark(currently at 136, 000). Should I be concerned at all?

Thanks in advance!

I'm asking myself the same question. My Vibe is a 2009 (bought in 2008) which now has 177,000 km (110,000 miles) and I never changed the coolant so far. I just had an oil change this morning and the coolant still looks great and good for up to -50°C. Should I still change it soon?

Mine looked great as well but I decided to change it anyways....I'm not sure if it's harmful if you don't change it but they must give the time limit for a reason...maybe it breaks down over time as it does with mileage......But if you are looking to change it, it's way cheaper doing it yourself as opposed to having the dealer do it. I think the dealer told me it was around $90 and they only changed what was in the rad! I bought a jug of coolant for $20 and it took me about half an hour!


I also went and bought toyota coolant, I didn't use the GM dexcool that the manual recommends as I am(as well as others on this forum)more than positive it's toyota coolant in it.

Coolant can change in pH over time, according to my classwork.