Hello everyone,

I have a 2004 Concorde LX with the 2.7 liter engine. I suspect that the thermostat needs replacing. I understand that I am supposed to bleed the system after I refill it with coolant, but I have never done this before. Is it is simple as just opening that bleeder screw where the top rad hose connects tot he engine? And if so, do you do it when filling it up while the car is off, or running, or does it need to be hot... I have no idea.

If someone has done this before can you help me out?

Thanks.

 

yes the bleeder valve it on top bleed it while the engine is off.

 

Ok, that seems simple enough, some other place on the internet made it sound a lot more difficult than that.

So just to clarify, after the new thermostat is in, while the car is still cool, I will crack the bleeder screw open and fill the coolant from the plastic resevior on the driver's side until it reaches the proper cold level, then shut the bleeder screw, and I should be good to go? Am I expecting any fluid to come out of the bleeder screw, or is that going to just give traped air some way out?

 

once the bleeder screw is open u will have air then once there is no more bubbles coming out of the screw u can close it U will need to add coolant to the vary top of the jug on the driver side Most tech have special funnels that allow us to keep the coolant in there and over full until all the bubbles are released from the engine area like when the thermostat opens up.

 

Alright, thanks for the help. If I could just get one more opinion from you....

Am I correct in assuming that the thermostat is the problem? When the problem occured, I noticed that the car took a lot longer to start heating up on the temp gauge, when it did start to show some heat on the gauge, it fluctuated, where as before it was steady, and never got quite to where it usually ran. Once it finally showed some heat, the air blowing in the car was warm at best. After it has been run, the lower and upper rad hoses are warm, as are the hoses going to and from the heater core, and the fluid in the resevoir is about where it should be.

My assumption is that the thermostat is stuck open, and now coolant flows in at full capacity whether the car is cold or not. If that is what is happening, it would explain all of the above I think.

I would appreciate your professional opinion, or anyone else's opinion for that matter.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

Fist make sure there coolant level is all the way at the top of the radiator cap. not blow it all the way up. and u can open the bleeder to allow any bubbles to come out.
No heat is common with low coolant
Once full let the engine run with out driving it let it get to half way mark then see what the heat is inside doing. The drive it if the temp goes down the more u drive it then a stuck open thermostat would be where I would start.

 

Alright, I will try that tomorrow morning. If after that I still have no heat, I will try replacing the thermostat and do my best to bleed the system afterwards.

Thanks again for the expert advise and opinions.

 

Well, I am pretty happy right now. I went and opened the bleeder screw this morning, and it sounded like letting the air out of a tire. So I then filled up the fluid to the top, left the screw open and basically did what you said. The result seems to have allowed me to put in about another liter of fluid, but the level is now where it was before, so I guess I managed to push out a liter or so of air. I now have heat again, and the temp gauge stay steady.

Thanks again for all the help.