2008 Tacoma Drain and Fill - Burping??

I'm in the process of replacing the coolant in my 2008 tacoma, following what appears to be the standard process that I found on the below video.. (Drain the liquid, fill up with Toyota 50/50).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovdVMTKUmUc

Now Im reading that air might have got into the system.. is this a serious concern? whats the best way to 'burp'?? I'm seeing multiple ways and would love to understand best practices and more about thought process behind the why..

1. open the radiator cap, turn on car + rev engine
2. put car on tilt

THANKS!

 

Fill up the rad as much as you can, fill the overflow tank up to the max fill level and go drive it long enough to get the motor up to running temp for quite a bit. Park n let cool and it will suck in any air that got pushed out.

 

Leave the heat and fan on throughout the process.

 

Thank you! Do i leave the rad cap on or off??

 

I've always left cap off while running engine. Let engine to heat up enough for thermostat to open (you'll see the flow change in the rad, more movement of fluid). Once the thermostat is open the system is flowing the air will work it's way out. You can increase the rpm (2000 or so) be careful because higher rpm can overflow the rad without the cap on.

 

I started the truck this morning (cold morning, 5 deg F) with the radiator cap open. Coolant started overflowing - i immediately stopped the truck. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening? Is this air escaping the system? should i let it overflow??

 

Curious as to where your trucks temp gauge was at when the coolant started overflowing.

 

Temperature was still pretty cold - i dont believe it had moved much.

 

$34 Lisle 24680 Spill-Free Funnel, Standard Adapters, 11 x 7 x 7"es

Lisle 24680. Works great for radiators that have a cap (I also use one of those vacuum the sh*t out until all the hoses collapse then let it suck all the new stuff back in thingy).

The Lisle is much simpler though. It's essentially a large funnel that seals to the opening and allows you to run the engine until the coolant starts overflowing without overflowing (because it's captured in the funnel). You keep running it until you see all the air get expelled (stops bubbling out). You then have a built in stopper so you can remove the funnel with the excess coolant without spillage. Close the cap (with engine still running). Done.

Works great, and it's so cheap that I wasn't compelled to make my own.

 

Just get a radiator funnel, I have this one:

$25 OEMTOOLS No-Spill Coolant Funnel Kit, 15 Piece Fluid and Oil Funnel Set, Allows Access To Hard-To-Reach Radiators

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A2CQSU6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and run it for a while, park so the front is elevated a bit, helps too

 

Just bought! whats causing the overflow? pressure? heat? I looked online and folks mentioned (worse case scenario) a blown head gasket -how would i know if thats the issue? Car runs fine, no issues

 

It starts overflowing as the engine heats up - mostly because of expansion. The funnel allows for capturing that expansion as it heats up without having coolant dump all over the place. Once the thermostat opens, it will drop in level. How much depends on how much air is after the thermostat at that point. Sometimes a lot, sometimes hardly anything.

The extra coolant in the funnel acts as a reservoir when this happens, so it may drop to the point where you have to add coolant (into the funnel).

You WANT the funnel to have some coolant as the engine starts flushing the air out as the coolant circulates to keep the radiator completely full. You will then likely see periodic burps/bubbles as the engine runs and flushes air out. Revving the engine a little can also help in this process.

Once the bubbling stops, use the stopper to seal the funnel, pull it out, and cap it. You can use what's in the funnel to fill into the overflow tank.

 

GET the funnel,best thing ever!

 

This worked great for me when I did a complete drain and fill. You can see the level of the coolant just above the angled funnel part. It give plenty of room for the coolant level to rise without overflowing.

 

I did the “fill the radiator and reserve tank to max” method. After a long drive I could hear air bubbles pushing out through the reserve tank. I check the levels the next morning. All is good.