What is the best and safest (for the vehicle) way to bleed air from the cooling system on a disco? I have heard multiple ways to do it, but I do not know what works best.

 

Personally I jack the front right side of the truck up (battery side). Open the radiator cap. Then turn truck on. Make sure the heat is on full blast! It takes roughly 30 minutes. You will see bubbles coming out through the radiator when the cap is off. Once bubbles stop coming out of the radiator wait until fluid comes out through top of the radiator. Then insert the cap. Turn off truck, lower off jack. Then drive it for a few days and see if this happens again. If it happens again then you have a headgasket issue.

 

Thanks for the help. I know that when I bought it there was a loose hose clamp on a hose and you could see that there was coolant leaking. It has been fixed for a while now. Im hoping that was the cause for air in the system.

 

ive always topped it off as best as i could, then let the thing idle with the cap off until the thermostat opens, and keep topping up the level as needed.

if you want to help it along, backfill the engine through the upper radiator hose before idling it (assuming you did a complete flush and the engine was empty)

 

Hmm, I just filled the rad and added more as I saw the level drop in the expan tank.

 

Backfilling the engine does make a lot of sense. And may keep it from overheating if the engine has drained completely.

 

Need a one way valve installed somewhere in the loop to allow the air to bleed out!

 

thats essentially what happens when you idle with the cap off long enough for the tstat to open, between that and backfilling it you shouldnt have to wait long for the air to pop out

 

Well, I gave it a go, but it don't think i got all of it out because the heater didn't turn on even though I had it on full blast (cold air was coming out at operating temp.)

 

I had a similar problem (although heat was working) and followed advice given here about switching the heater hoses around and it worked like a charm. I've since put them back to their original location but that did clear out my air-bubble. Might be worth a try. Good luck!