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Vacuum fill coolant tool

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john in la

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What part of in La do you not understand
Vacuum coolant fill tools are required for a lot of vehicles these days to eliminate trapped air pockets. Most radiators don't have caps anymore, but they should still have a drain port/valve at the bottom.
 
john in la said:
My wifes car does not have a cap on the radiator.
The only place to fill the radiator is the overfill bottle.
I need to remove the old antifreeze flush the system and replace with new.
I am considering buying a vacuum tool to do this job.

So give me the pros and cons of this tool.
Is it really needed or just makes the job easier?

Click to expand...
I could not imagine life without a Uview Airlift. Once in a blue moon you run across a vehicle that you will need to open air bleeds on after a coolant service it will be vehicles that have factor air bleeds like a Lincoln 3.9. (lets hope none of those P.O.S. are in captivity anymore)

On some anti-gas bottles it can be tricky to seal because the overflow will be built into the fill neck so look for that. If it will not pull much vacuum that's most likely where the issue is. I don't like pulling out of a gal. jug I will transfer the coolant to a bucket are use a 2.5 gal. jug and have a back up gal if needed. I stop it before a complete fill I know where to stop you may have to pull a little out of the gas bottle to get the correct level. Run it let it cool off and add/top off as needed. I also don't like pulling off the bottom of a jug it restricts flow. I cannot think of a tool that's been a better time saver its worth its weight in gold.

 
john in la said:
My wifes car does not have a cap on the radiator.
The only place to fill the radiator is the overfill bottle.
I need to remove the old antifreeze flush the system and replace with new.
I am considering buying a vacuum tool to do this job.

So give me the pros and cons of this tool.
Is it really needed or just makes the job easier?

Click to expand...
so how do you plan on flushing the system ? do you have the machine ? just remove the lower rad hose and drain the system even the block if it has a plug. dont need that tool, or at least i dont.
 
Some of today's vehicles require these tools, if you don't vacuum fill the system after draining they will air lock. My neighbor across the street from me has a Chevy pickup, not sure of the year early to mid 2000's I think, he replaced the water pump and refilled the system from jugs and ran the truck a little and cooked the engine. If you have an owners manual for the vehicle you are working on I'd look and see if you could find anything there to help.
 
There are many vehicles without caps on the radiator. With those, the reservoir under the hood is not an overflow but an expansion tank. There will often be more than one line to the tank to circulate coolant through it. Many of those will also have air bleeds installed in the system, at water outlets, heads, etc. Just driving it doesn't always purge all trapped air.

It's been that way since the '90s, or coming up on 30+ years.
 
I've had one for years and they work great. I would pre-mix my antifreeze in a 5 gal jug so I could just siphon out of it when filling.
 
Make sure that you do a good deal of research on the engine before you do anything.

Some engines require the cooling system be bled of air through bleeder valves located somewhere within the engine bay. They are not always found on the engine block.

If you get air trapped in the system you could find yourself back here asking about replacing a cracked head once the engine gets hot.
 
One thing you gotta be careful with when using those things is if the machine you're using it on has alot of hours/miles and some age to it, you can crack plastic components like the reservoir tank. One time a guy at work was refilling the cooling system on a John Deere chopper (like a 7980 or something) and due to the brittleness of the plastic from age and many heat cycles, the reservoir cracked under vacuum.
 
620 John said:
One thing you gotta be careful with when using those things is if the machine you're using it on has alot of hours/miles and some age to it, you can crack plastic components like the reservoir tank. One time a guy at work was refilling the cooling system on a John Deere chopper (like a 7980 or something) and due to the brittleness of the plastic from age and many heat cycles, the reservoir cracked under vacuum.
Click to expand...
So it found a weak link in the system before it became an issue... I consider that a plus.
 
Mule Meat said:
Make sure that you do a good deal of research on the engine before you do anything.

Some engines require the cooling system be bled of air through bleeder valves located somewhere within the engine bay. They are not always found on the engine block.

If you get air trapped in the system you could find yourself back here asking about replacing a cracked head once the engine gets hot.
Click to expand...
Thanks
This is the reason I asked about the vacuum fill in the first place.
The car in question is a 2020 Chevy Trax
While I have not looked at the car from what I have learned it has a bleeder screw in the top of the radiator on the passenger side.
From videos I have watched the vacuum fill method eliminates air pockets in the system.

I also have a 2015 Ram with a Hemi I can use the tool on but I am not to worried about that system.
 
Most chevys you will be fine without doing this. Of course read your manual and Check for bleeders. Fill the reservoir plumb full and drive the couple miles home or leave the cap off if you are leaving it in the shop while you start it and warm it up. Once you get close to operating temp it should bubble when the thermostat opens shut it off. Put the cap on while you wash the mess off but then take it back off again and go away overnight. Most air pockets will bubble out overnight if the tank is filled. If it’s at the fill line or above you will be good it should drop just a bit. The tanks are generally at coolant level and the fill line close to the top of or just above the tank. By adding more to the top at first especially there’s a bit of extra push behind it and I’ve never had any trouble. Like said above often I drive the thing home the 4 miles it’s about perfect wait a bit (don’t be dumb and get burned) take the cap loose go inside for supper check and usually top off in the morning. The level being a tad high will resolve itself.
 
Ya. Just did one and found easy way. We have a pump evac tool (gonna get one for oil too) but we take the overflow tube and hook it to the pump. One the bleeders and pumped it. Was super easy.
 
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