1998 Pontiac Bonneville Logo
Posted on Jan 05, 2011
Answered by a Fixya Expert

Trustworthy Expert Solutions

At Fixya.com, our trusted experts are meticulously vetted and possess extensive experience in their respective fields. Backed by a community of knowledgeable professionals, our platform ensures that the solutions provided are thoroughly researched and validated.

View Our Top Experts

Heat is not working - coolant was low so filled it.... problem here... heard something about an air pocket

  • Jeffrey Turcotte
    Jeffrey Turcotte Jan 05, 2011

    yes, air pockets will stop the heater, but you have to solve the problem that's creating the air pockets or you will never get the heat working right. If there are no visible leaks in the system, you may have a blown head gasket allowing coolant to pass out the tailpipe.

×

2 Answers

Anonymous

Level 3:

An expert who has achieved level 3 by getting 1000 points

All-Star:

An expert that got 10 achievements.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

Vice President:

An expert whose answer got voted for 100 times.

  • Master 653 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 05, 2011
Anonymous
Master
Level 3:

An expert who has achieved level 3 by getting 1000 points

All-Star:

An expert that got 10 achievements.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

Vice President:

An expert whose answer got voted for 100 times.

Joined: Mar 12, 2010
Answers
653
Questions
2
Helped
246423
Points
1197

Right. Start with a cold unstarted engine (best early in morning when it have stayed cold overnight), remove radiator cap and return bottle cap, fill radiator until it overflows (if coolant level have dropped and you can see inner radiator fins) fill radiator return bottle until it overflows.

Start engine, let it runs for 5-10 minutes on idle and turn on your heater to MAXIMUM HEATand air blower to MAXIMUM LEVEL (DO NOT REV ENGINE, LET IT IDLE), until you can see coolant level either overflows followed by bubbles and/or coolant level drops where you can see radiator inner fins, as soon as this happened, keep filling radiator until it overflows again.

NOTICE, overflowing coolant will be very hot so be careful not to get hot liquid burned.

Let the engine idle for another 5-10 minutes and keeping heater ON full blast after you can see overflows are not followed by anymore bubbles, turn off ignition, put radiator cap and overflow bottle cap on tightly.

Use car, as you would do normally or drive for about 55 miles or 100km , after 55 miles, stop car, check overflow bottle, see if coolant amount dropped below minimum bottle mark, if YES, just refill coolant until it overflows.
From here you can use car as normal but keep a close watch on catch bottle for the next 2-3 days until coolant level settles down to between MINIMUM and MAXIMUM level.

If coolant bottle is empty after the drive, stop engine, let engine cool off for at least 30 minutes before opening radiator cap. Once you can open radiator cap, fill radiator again and do same as above process.

WARNING NOTE, if this happened, you must take your car to a garage for a closer inspection as there may be other unknown problem(s).

If this advise helped you then give a thumb up response and a good comment. Thank you.

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Corporal:

An expert that has over 10 points.

Problem Solver:

An expert who has answered 5 questions.

  • Contributor 8 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 05, 2011
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Corporal:

An expert that has over 10 points.

Problem Solver:

An expert who has answered 5 questions.

Joined: Jan 05, 2011
Answers
8
Questions
0
Helped
1464
Points
18

If you dont have an external coolant leak anywhere under your hood that has shown up on your driveway it could be the intake manifold or the headgasket leaking. Also check the thermostate to solve the heat issue.

Ad

Add Your Answer

×

Uploading: 0%

my-video-file.mp4

Complete. Click "Add" to insert your video. Add

×

Loading...
Loading...

Related Questions:

1helpful
1answer

The top radiator hose was replaced now the temp goes to the red zone ,when the heat is on high the temp slowly rises and when the heat is on it slows the heating down

The system may have an air pocket in it. I remember the Toyota 3000 V6 were great for doing that. Look for a heater hose or something high on the motor that you can pull off to fill with more coolant.
If its not an air pocket then the thermostat could be stuck or the electic fan not coming on.
0helpful
1answer

It doesnt do it when cold and starts fine it only seems to be when its been run for a bit

You left out the problem. All I know is something happens when warm or hot. All I can tell you is parts heat up and when they get old they fail to work properly. Sensors going bad will heat up and spike voltage to ECM and cause a stall. Overheating check your radiator for leaks or low coolant. Fill accordingly and run a few minutes with cap on loose to remove air. Air pockets in cooling lines causes car to overheat.
0helpful
1answer

What is an air pocket in the cooling system?how does it get there?

air pocket is air in the cooling system and it can get there from low coolant or someone draining and filling the system, but it should work its way out by fill radiator and running engine until thermostant opens, some newer cars are a little harder but this one is smiple. hope this helps.
1helpful
3answers

My 2001 Jeep Cherokee is overheating after flushing the radiator and changing the thermostat. It is blowing cold air

Did you make sure you filled the radiator up and got the overflow tank up to the correct level? Sometimes when you flush and drain the system and fill it back up air pockets can get trapped in the system. Start the jeep up with the radiator cap off and wait for the coolant to start flowing and when the air pockets make their way through they will escape and you can add more antifreeze.

Also, did you make sure you installed the thermostat so it is facing the right direction?

Good Luck
2helpful
2answers

The heater in my 2005 Suburban works intermittently. Sometimes it works fine and other times there is absolutely no heat. The fan works but there is just zero heat. There does not seem to be any consistent...

It sounds like you have low coolant in the engine, If your coolant is low you may intermittently have no heat, the rear heater probably gets coolant first, and that is why it seems like it is performing better. With a cold engine add about a pint of coolant above the full line, then warm the vehicle up to regular operating temperature and shut it off. As the engine cools the coolant from the resevoir should be drawn back into the engine. If after the engine cools the coolant level is lower than where you had filled it to, try this again. The reason for bringing the engine to operating temp is that as the coolant ciculates, if their are any air locks in the system they will be circulated out to the resevoir.
0helpful
2answers

Cannot get heat even after changing thermostat in 1992 honda accord what do i check next

Check the heater control valve. It is usually behind the engine up next to the firewall. Have someone inside the car move the heater control to heat. A lever on the heater control valve should move when this is done.

This valve allows hot coolant to enter the heater core inside the car. If this hot coolant doesn't arrive, you have no heat.
1helpful
1answer

Temperature/heat wont work/dashboard lights on and off

It sounds to me like you're low on coolant. When you checked the coolant level, did you actually open the radiator cap and make sure the radiator is full? The plastic tank you generally add coolant too is actually an 'overflow' or 'reserve' tank. There is a hose that runs from that tank to the top of the radiator so if the radiator gets low on coolant, more coolant -should- run in from the overflow tank. However in practice this does not always work. I have a Jeep that leaks coolant and experiences this exact same problem. Coolant will not run from the reserve tank into the radiator because the hose is plugged up, and whenever the radiator gets low on coolant the temp gauge will go real high and then drop, and the heater doesn't work well. This is because the cooling system of your car is supposed to be a closed system, full of coolant and no air. When coolant leaks out, the space it used to occupy is now occupied by air, which does not transfer heat well. When 'air' is passing through your cooling system, no heat can be transferred from your engine to the heater and radiator, resulting in a hot engine and no heat at the heater. Then when a pocket of water passes through the system, the temperature gauge quickly falls as the water absorbs the heat from the engine. The hot water that cools the engine is where the heater gets it's heat from as well, so when water passes through the heater core, the heater works, but when it's filled with air, it doesn't.
0helpful
1answer

Heat not working or diles

You most likely have an air pocket in the cooling system. The heater core on these vans is much higher than the engine and they can be tough to get all the air out of them.

Make sure the coolant in the radiator is full when engine is cold- also fill the overflow bottle to the top. Chock the rear wheels. Jack up the front of the van as far as you can and support with jack stands. Run the engine until it's warm and then hold the RPMS at 2000 for about 5 minutes while checking for heat inside the cabin. You may hear some funny noises like something is trying to come through the firewall forcefully! That's the air pocket moving... you might not hear this also. Once you have good heat inside, let the engine idle- if the air coming form the vents cools off after a couple minutes, the air is still there- keep doing this until the air is hot coming from the vents at idle for more than a couple minutes. Once you have good heat, turn the engine off and let the engine cool completely- at least a couple hours... you will most likely see the level in the overflow drop dramatically. Lower vehicle and make sure overflow is at COLD FULL mark.

Newer Altimas also had a similar situation in which heat would go away at idle- usually not a problem with an air pocket, but Nissan has a bulletin out on putting the correct concentration of coolant/water in the system- these cars are very sensitive to changes in coolant mixture concentration.

Nissan Scope Technician- 10 years with Nissan
0helpful
1answer

Only hot air blowing out of vents

i am a nissan master technition in Wichita Ks. we see this problem frequently. there is an air pocket in your heater core, due to low coolant level. for some resion or another your vehical is consuming coolant (usually head gkt leaking into cyl). and sence the heater core is higher than the radiator, the air pocket gets stuck in the heater core.
wait till the vehical is cooled off, remove radiator cap, install coolant funnel (avalible at any auto parts store). lift front of vehical off the ground (to get the radiator higher than the heater core), fill coolant funnel and start engine. allow vehical to reach opperating tempature and the air pocket will work its way loose. you may need to rev engine to change coolant flow rate in atempts to remove air pocket quicker.

sorry about the spelling
jon
Not finding what you are looking for?

529 views

Ask a Question

Usually answered in minutes!

Top Pontiac Experts

ZJ Limited
ZJ Limited

Level 3 Expert

17989 Answers

Thomas Perkins
Thomas Perkins

Level 3 Expert

15088 Answers

Brad Brown

Level 3 Expert

19187 Answers

Are you a Pontiac Expert? Answer questions, earn points and help others

Answer questions

Manuals & User Guides

Loading...