Hi all - a new (to me) 2007 LR3 SE V8 owner as of last week (111k miles).

Fortunately, the previous owner had take care of most of the maintenance (all fluids, suspension, air compressor, etc.) I enthusiastically dug into it over the weekend to do some proactive maintenance (belts, pulleys, thermostat, water pump, etc.). Everything went quite smoothly - until bleeding. Two issues arose:

i - There were a few threads on bleeding, but nothing definitive (some say to use the T bleeder valve, others just the main trans fluid reservoir cap, some the bleed valve on the reservoir). I did a 'buffet' of processes, which seemed to do the trick. No bubbles in the expansion tank, fluid out of the T bleeder valve. I drove it around the neighbourhood for a while to ensure there were no heating issues, brought it home and decided to do one last bleed at the T. WOOSH - the valve disintegrated and fluid burst forth (I had just read about this and made note to replace it, too late). Fortunately, I found a spare already installed on the hose kit I purchased for another weekend job.

The point of this: I'd like to do away with the bleeder valve w a straight brass ****** fitting. To know if that's a good idea, can anyone definitively detail the 'best' bleed process on this vehicle? I'm hoping it's this one pasted below, found on this forum and similar to the Atlantic British description on their coolant hose video. This will help me determine whether a straight 3/8" brass barb will suffice, or if I need a bleed here.

Thank you - this site is an amazing resource!

Originally posted by "DavC":

Process is don't touch the bleed screws or bleeder valve at the top of the block, BUT keep the coolant expansion tank cap off. Make sure everything is connected and closed up vis-a-vis the hoses, then fill her up.

Start the engine and run gradually up to 3000rpm for a few minutes until it warms enough to open the thermostat. When that happens it will suck coolant down and flush most of the air out of the system. Shut the engine off immediately after the t stat opens and top off coolant as necessary. Repeat once or twice more. You should see no bubbles in the coolant return. Then put the cap on. If you have a diagnostic tool the correct temp for the t stat to open is around 197F.

 

Welcome. You can definitely replace the bleeder with a straight through brass fitting, and I'd recommend it. Others have recreated the bleeder out of brass parts.

For coolant filling, I bought an Airlift II tool (economy version, about $90) and I'd also recommend that to anyone. Have used it about five times in two years, always a perfect no-fuss fill. If you've currently got a good fill/bleed, you can probably get away with just swapping in the straight fitting and driving.

 

Thanks very much for the reply. Yes, I assumed I could get away with changing-out the valve w/o bleeding, given 1/4 of the coolant was inadvertently 'bled' out of there when the valve exploded .

I will look into the product you mention as I plan on draining the entire system in the near future to replace the hoses.