If a dealer did it, yes. If someone who does not know the 4.4 in the LR3 very well, no. Its a pain to bleed it well.

 

I've found that the easiest way to bleed the cooling system is to leave the coolant cap off, start the engine, and allow the car to warm up a bit. Have a helper rev the engine at 3000 RPM for 30 seconds while you keep an eye on the coolant level. Once your helper lets off the gas, the coolant level will go down. Top off the coolant, and repeat the rev and fill process a few more times. A couple of ways to check that you are on the right track is by turning on the heater and feeling for hot air. Also try touching some of the hoses and seeing if they are warm.

 

The coolant camp is for the expansion tank, one must open the bleeder above the throttle body or air will never get out.

 

Thanks. Do you open the bleeder with the engine running and expansion cap off?

 

If the expansion tank is at a good level, not empty, then I keep it closed for bleeding the upper fitting by the throttle body.

 

I know the factory manual says to use the bleeder T above the throttle body to purge air from the coolant system, but I want to encourage you to try the method I mentioned above. It takes 5 minutes versus the 5 hours it takes with the traditional method, and you don't have to deal with crazy temperature swings and coolant spewing all over the place when you open bleed valves

 

Hell Pie - I just finished bleeding with your method and waiting for everything to cool down so I can check if I need to top off. It took me two rounds of about 15 minutes each of idling and revving engine with cap off to get all the air bubbles out of expansion tank. Heater was blowing hot and the engine temp was staying within range. Road test is next. If coolant spills out of expansion tank after drive, then I'll try again and add the bleeder T. Thanks again!

 

I followed a combination of Hell Pie's and Dakota's bleeding process and I was able to run errands for about 30 minutes without any overheating. The problem came a few hours later, when I ran a second errand and the car overheated after about 5 minutes of driving. I lost an entire expansion tank of coolant out the cap. I decided to start the bleeding process again. The weird thing was that during second time through bleeding the system, the heater was blowing really hot and then suddenly got ice cold while simultaneously the coolant level began to "boil" to the top of the expansion tank. Why would the heat stop working while the expansion tank filled up? Could the heater core be getting triggered or blocked and stop working?

 

The heater core is irrelevant to coolant flow. In fact some people just cap it off (hot climates) if they have an issue. You lost heat because your coolant was boiling again. Starting to think you *might* have some sorta air leak. When coolant cools it contracts and can in fact cause a slight vacuum. If you have a poorly connected hose, hose with a hole or a hose connection with corrosion which creates a small path for air - then when things cool air might be getting sucked in slowly. But the leak is so small that while air can get in, coolant may not get out. Or thermal expansion seals it. I have only seen this once before on a older Benz.

You may also have a blow head gasket. And on your first trip you simply did not have enough exhaust pumped into the cooling system to be an issue. Had you driven longer, then it may have shown.

Of note, you are filling the expansion tank to the proper level, not full right?

 

Thanks Dakota. Yes, filled it up to the proper level. I’ll investigate the hoses and head gasket.