Can be quite difficult to distiguish airlock and HG failure. I had blowing from the expansion tank for a couple of weeks following a hose failure, drain and flush which I thought (and was told) was an HG (3-cyl engines are prone) but its apparently stopped so was probably just air in the system.
I'm told some engines (VW Golf was mentioned IIRC) are especially prone and need a vacuum fill.
Running the engine with the rad cap off you need somewhere for the coolant to expand to, such as a tight-fitting funnel, and it might boil, which would be alarming, though it would probably purge the air. I chickened out before that point because the funnel was almost full.
I've been told (by Americans, who probably run V8's) that running the engine in normal use to purge air is standard procedure.
Seems risky to me, though effectively that's what I did.
Where there is air cooling must be compromised, and if thats in the head, which is likely to be the highest point on most engines, and where the exhaust valves are, there seems to be a risk of serious damage.
Next time I'll try "burping" it with a big sink unblocker syringe, or maybe use a venturi pump.
Edited by edlithgow on 16/01/2019 at 02:09
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