Air bubble in my cooling system.

Ever since I flushed out my radiator and burped the system, I've been dealing with air trapped inside the cooling system. When I drive, I can hear the gurgling and I will stop on a hill and run the motor with the radiator cap off and a funnel on top the radiator. And sure enough, there is air bubbles. Everyday of emptying out air bubbles. But it's good to talk to someone about it. My neighbor is a car and motorcycle guy, and bouncing around what may be the problem, he asked how empty my radiator was and if it was at the top. As a matter of fact, it would only at the top of the radiator. We figured that it was a vacuum leak at the top of the radiator. So went on eBay and ordered a new one. Just waiting for it to arrive.

Crossing my fingers that solves the problem. I'm still dealing with a P0500 VSS Sensor A.

 

2005s have a risk of headgasket leaks too..

 

if it smells like exhaust in the radiator, then head gasket blown

there is no vacuum on the rad when running, only when cooling to suck in what was released when hot

 

knottyrope, nope no smell of exhaust in the radiator or white smoke from the exhaust while driving. I have been checking the oil and no sign of water mixed in. I do have one of those cameras that can go into small spaces. I thought of removing one of the spark plugs and just viewing one of the cylinders.

 

2015WhiteOR. Thanks I am aware of possible head gasket.

 

Do a combustion test on the radiator...Kits cost about 30 bucks..

 

knottyrope
I'm aware that the radiator doesn't have a vacuum. I was using the term as a figure of speech. I haven't seen any seepage of fluid anywhere on the ground or in the engine bay. Plus, my radiator has seen better days. Also, while running no overflow or overheating. Temperature is normal. But still the air bubbles. So changing out the radiator is step one in the process of elimination.
I live in Hawaii and because of the tradewinds, salt is always in the air. So rust starts everywhere.

 

tacobp, thanks, I have not lost power. Truck runs like a champ. Just bubbles keep coming up. No overheating, no rise in temperature, no white smoke. Just air bubbles trapped in the cooling system.

 

It is possible that parking on a hill has resulted in air being trapped elsewhere and unable to escape when you're burping the system. Said air gets jarred loose when driving under normal conditions.

How did you burp the system specifically?

Edit: also, if you hit the "quote" button at the bottom of the post you're responding to, said person will get notified and can respond back when they see it.

 

RedWings44
I have been doing just that. My driveway is at an angle. And it helps, plus I will turn on my heater to allow the heater core to circulate. Bubble do come out but the next day, there are more.

 

Thanks for the tip on responding.

 

What should happen is any air in there will burp out into the reservoir. A couple warm up cool down cycles should clear it all up as long as the reservoir doesn’t get empty.

 

A lot of vehicles actually prefer to be level during the burping process. Look into a coolant system burping kit.

 

Theoretically, yes. However, I've never actually been successful with this in any vehicle I've owned. However, they make actual bleed kits that should take care of this even better.

 

This the kit I use after doing any cooling system work. Applies a vacuum and fills the cooling system similar to an AC machine. $100 on Amazon. You'll need an air compressor

 

This type of tool (or Airlift) works wonders. Plus you can check for possible leaks (at least INTO the coolant system) - instructions say to pull the vacuum, close it off, and observe for loss of vacuum for a few seconds/minute.

Another benefit is when you pull the coolant after vacuuming, the system fills SUPER fast compared to pouring it in 'manually.'

 

MA_TACO, thanks but I don't need that. I have narrowed it down to the reason there's more bubbles. With the truck on a hill or on lifts, I have seen a lot of bubbles only tiny bubbles seep out. I figure the radiator and the trans cooler in front of the radiator had bubbles. Since the truck is an 2005, I ordered a new radiator from eBay. It's 18 years old, it has the original radiator.

 

I've never heard of a leaking radiator to cause air bubbles inside of it. You would see coolant leaking out when it becomes pressurized.

Assuming it's a v6, and 2005, first suspect would be head gasket. Just because it doesn't smell like exhaust doesn't mean it isn't. Do the block test as tacobp suggested. Simple to do painlessly.

I don't remember what it said but I recall reading diagnosing a head gasket leak on the 4.0 is different.

Another simple painless test to do is a cooling system pressure test. Test the cap too.

Every cooling system I've ever worked on, even poorly designed ones with hoses above the cap will burp the air out. Look at your reservoir. Make sure there are no clogged hose, cap vents good, the straw inside the reservoir isn't clogged and will draw fluid up properly. The tacoma is odd and doesn't have a straw attached to the cap like most, it's built into the reservoir container. Look at the nipple the hose attaches to below the cap too, make sure it isn't clogged.

You do have a coolant reservoir?
It's attached to a hose that goes to a nipple below the radiator cap?
It has coolant in it?
Have you ever noticed the radiator hoses collapsed?