Rep Power: 210

just wondering how long it takes for the system to "burp" out all the air bubbles?

i changed my water pump a week ago (along with timing belt etc) so the system was basically entirely drained (rad also)

it has now been a week of driving and about every other day i am having to add a small amount of coolant to the overflow bottle, rad is always full, but overflow level drops slightly, and i add about 1/8 cup of coolant every other day,

temp guage always stay normal at just below half and never moves from there while driving, same spot it was always before i did the repairs,

i have driven about 500km now in the week, yesterday i went on about a 250km round trip (all highway at about 70mph), i checked the coolant this morning and again its down a small amount,

is it normal for it to take this long for the level to stabilize? i was very careful when installing the pump, and im very experienced when working on cars, so i would find it very hard to believe if there was a leak, but no way to tell without ripping the cover off again,

i have looked closely at the bottom of the cover and its dry,

should i give it another week or so? do u think its still air in the system?

 
Rep Power: 518

Do you fill the coolant reservoir to the top?
Don't do that.
Stop at the line for full.
Level will vary and move with engine temperature changes.


Or start looking for combustion leakage into the cooling system. They blow head gaskets and push bubbles into the cooling system when they do.

 
Rep Power: 210

i keep the level between the min and max lines, i realize the level goes up and down with engine temperatures

 
Rep Power: 193

Yeah I keep mine at the full line so it's easier to see if you're losing coolant.

When I did my timing belt last year it took a week or two for all the air to get worked out and the coolant level to stabilize; bleeding can be a pain in these cars.