Heat Problems- How do you burp your cooling system?

My 2012 SHO has been having intermittent problems with the heat- sometimes it takes forever or just doesn't seem to get warm. Last night I noticed that if I rev the engine I will suddenly have heat (I was happy I had heat, came to a stoplight and after a few seconds I didn't, and then I noticed that if I put it in neutral or pulled away from the stop it came back). Usually, this kind of thing is an air bubble in the system (it could be a sketchy water pump also but I have had no signs of overheating when it's warm), so I'm wondering is there a trick to getting the air out of the cooling system?

 

Sorry for the crappy format and the legal warnings. Copied from service procedure. Guessing steps 9/12 are your best bet.

1. NOTICE: Use the vacuum cooling system filler to fill the cooling system, then carry out the remaining steps to bleed all the air from the cooling system. Failure to follow these instructions can leave air in the cooling system which may damage the engine or cooling system.

NOTICE: The engine cooling system is filled with Motorcraft(R) Specialty Green Engine Coolant or Motorcraft(R) Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Concentrated. Always fill the cooling system with the manufacturer's specified coolant. Chemically flush the cooling system if a non-specified coolant has been used. Refer to Cooling System Flushing See: Cooling System > Procedures > Cooling System Flushing.Failure to follow these instructions may damage the engine or cooling system.

NOTICE: Use Motorcraft(R) Specialty Green Engine Coolant or Motorcraft(R) Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Concentrated. Use the same type of coolant that was originally used to fill the cooling system. Do not mix coolant types. Mixing coolant types degrades the coolant corrosion protection and may damage the engine or cooling system.

NOTICE: Motorcraft(R) Specialty Green Engine Coolant is very sensitive to light. Do NOT allow this product to be exposed to ANY LIGHT for more than a day or two. Extended light exposure causes this product to degrade.

NOTICE: Stop-leak style pellets/products must not be used as an additive in this engine cooling system. The addition of stop-leak style pellets/products can clog or damage the cooling system, resulting in degraded cooling system performance and/or failure.

NOTICE: Engine coolant provides boil protection, corrosion protection, freeze protection, and cooling efficiency to the engine and cooling components. In order to obtain these protections, maintain the engine coolant at the correct concentration and fluid level in the degas bottle.
To maintain the integrity of the coolant and the cooling system:
- Add Motorcraft(R) Specialty Green Engine Coolant or Motorcraft(R) Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Concentrated. Use the same type of coolant that was originally used to fill the system.
- Do not add or mix with any other type of engine coolant. Mixing coolants may degrade the coolant's corrosion protection.
- Do not add alcohol, methanol, or brine, or any engine coolants mixed with alcohol or methanol antifreeze. These can cause engine damage from overheating or freezing.
- Ford Motor Company does NOT recommend the use of recycled engine coolant in vehicles originally equipped with Motorcraft(R) Specialty Green Engine Coolant or Motorcraft(R) Orange Antifreeze/Coolant Concentrated since a Ford-approved recycling process is not yet available.

NOTICE: Stop-leak style pellets/products must not be used as an additive in this engine cooling system. The addition of stop-leak style pellets/products can clog or damage the cooling system resulting in degraded cooling system performance and/or failure.

Install the vacuum cooling system filler and follow the manufacturer's instructions to fill and bleed the cooling system.

- Recommended coolant concentration is 50/50 engine coolant to distilled water.

- For extremely cold climates (less than -37°C [-34°F]):
- It may be necessary to increase the coolant concentration above 50%.

- NEVER increase the coolant concentration above 60%.

- Maximum coolant concentration is 60/40 for cold weather areas.

- A coolant concentration of 60% will provide freeze point protection down to -50°C (-58°F).

- Engine coolant concentration above 60% will decrease the overheat protection characteristics of the engine coolant and may damage the engine.

- For extremely hot climates:
- It is still necessary to maintain the coolant concentration above 40%.

- NEVER decrease the coolant concentration below 40%.

- Minimum coolant concentration is 40/60 for warm weather areas.

- A coolant concentration of 40% will provide freeze point protection down to -26°C (-15°F).

- Engine coolant concentration below 40% will decrease the corrosion and freeze protection characteristics of the engine coolant and may damage the engine.

- Vehicles driven year-round in non-extreme climates should use a 50/50 mixture of engine coolant and distilled water for optimum cooling system and engine protection.

2. Fill the degas bottle to 25 mm (0.984 in) above the COLD FILL line.

3. Install the degas bottle cap until at least 1 audible click is heard.

4. Turn the climate control system off.

5. Start the engine and increase the engine speed to 3,500 rpm and hold for 30 seconds.

6. Turn the engine off for and wait for 1 minute to purge any large air pockets from the cooling system.

7. WARNING: Always allow the engine to cool before opening the cooling system. Do not unscrew the coolant pressure relief cap when the engine is operating or the cooling system is hot. The cooling system is under pressure; steam and hot liquid can come out forcefully when the cap is loosened slightly. Failure to follow these instructions may result in serious personal injury.

Check the engine coolant level in degas bottle and if necessary fill to 25 mm (0.984 in) above the top of the COLD FILL LEVEL on the degas bottle if the engine is warm or to the top of the COLD FILL LEVEL if the engine is cold.

8. Start the engine and let it idle until the engine reaches normal operating temperature and the thermostat is fully open. A fully open thermostat is verified by the cooling fan cycling on at least once.

9. Increase the engine speed to 3,500 rpm and hold for 30 seconds.

10. Allow the engine to idle for 30 seconds.

11. Turn the engine off for 1 minute.

12. Repeat steps 9 through 11 a total of 5 times to remove any remaining air trapped in the system.

13. WARNING: Always allow the engine to cool before opening the cooling system. Do not unscrew the coolant pressure relief cap when the engine is operating or the cooling system is hot. The cooling system is under pressure; steam and hot liquid can come out forcefully when the cap is loosened slightly. Failure to follow these instructions may result in serious personal injury.

Check the engine coolant level in degas bottle and if necessary fill to 25 mm (0.984 in) above the top of the COLD FILL LEVEL on the degas bottle if the engine is warm or to the top of the COLD FILL LEVEL if the engine is cold.

14. Install the degas bottle cap until at least 1 audible click is heard.

 

Take the cap off the overflow tank while the car is cold. Start it up and let it run for about 20 minutes and add coolant until it is just above the max line on the tank.

 

Might be silly to ask because you've probably done it but have you checked the level? Mine was maybe 4-5 inches low and I had the same issue, no heat at idle. Found out I had a coolant leak. It's since fixed and heat works fine.

 

First I put a burp rag over my left shoulder making sure its covering more of my back than my shoulder. Then I pick her up and make sure her chin is overhanging my shoulder with her neck even with my collar bone. Pull the legs up tight and the begin to heavily pat the middle to lower back. Within about 3o seconds...…..burping begins. Full burping completion is usually achieved in about 3-5 minutes. OK ok...disclaimer. This only works on newer models. With both my girls in college (older models) I'm purdy sure if I tried to burp them I will most likely end up either dead or in the hospital. Hope this helps.

 

I tried something like that last night (with the passenger side up on a curb to make it the highest point and spent more than 20 minutes doing it), and it made no change, it didn't change the coolant level in the tank.

Yes, the coolant level was right before all this, right now it's about 1" high based on some recommendations.

 

Don't apologize for doing me a big favor. Thank you! I wish I had access to the FSM

What's a "vacuum cooling system filler?" Is this part of the car or a tool?

can anyone tell if 9-11 (repeated 5x) is supposed to be done with the cap on or off? Everywhere else it seems to specify, here unless I'm missing it it's not clear

 

FWIW, when I was playing with this last night I had a scan tool connected and was surprised to see that it was very difficult to get the engine temp over 185*F , AAMOF, I didn't get it over 185 sitting there, I had to take it for a drive to get it to get warmer, and then it only got to 194*F.

I thought most newer cars operate in the 205* or so range. Does this sound correct? I'm somewhat wondering if someone stuck a cooler thermostat in this car (is there even a cooler thermostat available???). It was a common thing to do in older musclecars, but I know that usually sticking a 160 or 185* in the place of a stock 195* thermostat usually meant marginal heat in the winter.

 

It is a tool. It is not a must have. It creates a vacuum on the system and then when you open a valve that's opening is submerged in coolant, it sucks the coolant into the system attempting to limit bubbles.

This is from a service called AllDataPro. Similar to the FSM but still aftermarket. I luckily have access through work.

I believe it is done with it on and you open and top it off in #13.

There is a 170* from Reische and a 160* from LMS. I am not 100% sure how to tell if you have one without opening the system. I plan to replace mine just because I am not sure what is in it. I plan to swap to a different coolant at the same time. Personally being a DD in Ohio, I plan to go with the Reische replacement. The instructions say to warm it up to one cycle of the fan. If the car had a thermostat and a tune, they should have adjusted the fan on/off temps to match the thermostat.

 

My car runs around 185-190 unless I am in stop and go traffic on a hot summer day. Then it might get up to 210-215

 

Your heater core inlet should be around 150 degrees and your outlet within 10-30 if not your heater core may be plugged up.

The bottom hose to the core is the inlet.

 

Ford TechMakuLuco has video on youtube that shoes a simple tool that can be used to change your coolant and will guarantee no trapped air.

The Absolute Best Way to Refill Your Engine Cooling System - YouTube