telson
12-02-2004, 10:44 AM
The heating in my 2004 Marauder was lukewarm, at best. I checked the threads on this forum and my engineer buddy. He correctly guessed that there was an air pocket in the coolant, even though the coolant level in the degas bottle (reservoir) appeared to be fine.
I know this solution has been written elsewhere, but here's what I did, for anyone who's interested.
1. Open the coolant Service Port (the small cap on the horizontal pipe that runs between the radiator and the engine. Use a 1/4" socket wrench to open it. Note: This is the highest point in the system. This was full of coolant.
2. Slowly open the cap on the degas bottle (the coolant reservoir). Do it slowly, in case coolant rushes in, and over, the bottle. I now looked in the Service Port and the pipe was now only 3/4 full of coolant. Aha, so the air pocket theory was correct.
3. Tightly close the degas bottle cap again.
4. I put a little over a Quart of coolant (note, we use the yellow Zerex G-05 coolant, not green or red coolant) in, via the Service Port. The degas bottle was, by now, full way above the Max line but my buddy said this was Ok.
5. Tighten the Service Port again.
6. I peered in the degas bottle, just in case I was supposed to equalize the pressure again. Lots of coolant in there!
I drove it to work this morning and the heater is working fine!
I know this solution has been written elsewhere, but here's what I did, for anyone who's interested.
1. Open the coolant Service Port (the small cap on the horizontal pipe that runs between the radiator and the engine. Use a 1/4" socket wrench to open it. Note: This is the highest point in the system. This was full of coolant.
2. Slowly open the cap on the degas bottle (the coolant reservoir). Do it slowly, in case coolant rushes in, and over, the bottle. I now looked in the Service Port and the pipe was now only 3/4 full of coolant. Aha, so the air pocket theory was correct.
3. Tightly close the degas bottle cap again.
4. I put a little over a Quart of coolant (note, we use the yellow Zerex G-05 coolant, not green or red coolant) in, via the Service Port. The degas bottle was, by now, full way above the Max line but my buddy said this was Ok.
5. Tighten the Service Port again.
6. I peered in the degas bottle, just in case I was supposed to equalize the pressure again. Lots of coolant in there!
I drove it to work this morning and the heater is working fine!