180 Thermostat and new coolant leak

What's the advantages of drilling that hole and disadvantages of not having it?
 
In the picture above it looks like the guy drilled two holes
 
The holes help bleed the air out while filling and first start, one, two whatever, one needs to be placed at the top when the housing is installed
So if you don't do that it's just going to take that much longer? As in I've never done that before and never had any issues...
 
it just helps with bleeding air from the system.
I have never had a problem getting a water cooling system bled on my cars... but I have seen some that just would not bleed, or were a very tough bleed... Same model of cars etc....
New engine, Radiator shop checked radiator and heater core, my 83 start up and system bleeding went really well... I attribute it to ( been there done that before) paying attention to the little things.. They add up....

What the advice on here is saying, with the bleed holes in a T stat, is everything you do to make this job go easier ahead of time is worth your time and effort..
 
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oh gotcha.

When it is improperly bled does that lead to temping up issues? Anything else that arises?
 
it just helps with bleeding air from the system.
I've always warmed the car up until I see air bubbles bubbling at the radiator fill with the cap off and heater on high. Once the aire is out of the systsem that's what you will see, correct? Am I missing something as to definitely knowing when all the air is out?

I will go ahead and drill that hole too by they way.
 
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What my experience has been is ...
You can tell when the T stat opens up, as you get a flow of water you can see through the radiator cap AND usually a drop in the coolant level
The coolant level usually drops so make sure you top it off...
Sometimes jack up the front of the car, as air rises and this helps bleed out the air through the " highest point", usually the radiator...
Turn on your heater so any air bleeds out of the heater core....
Check your coolant daily after this for a few days...
 
i guess it's never to late to learn lol. Reading a post on the corral now I have more questions as that post is from 2020 so I'll ask here. So what I did the othe day I drained at the lower radiator hose and removed the T stat. More ended up draining ( accidental spill) than I needed and so I have about a half a pale full of coolant. The overflow jug is at the full cold level and so when I go to fill I'm guessing just half fill the radiator since it will start sucking from the overflow jug while the car is cold after starting it up correct or no?
yes that's usually how I do it. Check my last post in ref to the coolant jug being full and lmk whatcha think....
 
i guess it's never to late to learn lol. Reading a post on the corral now I have more questions as that post is from 2020 so I'll ask here. So what I did the othe day I drained at the lower radiator hose and removed the T stat. More ended up draining ( accidental spill) than I needed and so I have about a half a pale full of coolant. The overflow jug is at the full cold level and so when I go to fill I'm guessing just half fill the radiator since it will start sucking from the overflow jug while the car is cold after starting it up correct or no?
 
First fill, i usually put the front end on ramps or jackstands. Helps to get the rad cap opening at the highest point of the system. Leave cap off, fill system, start car, massage the upper hose as the thermostat starts to open. Top off as needed and put the cap on. Let it idle a few mins and then shut it off. Make sure overflow is filled and it should suck some coolant back as it cools.

When cool, open cap and top off. Start up engine again and warm up, rinse and repeat until you aren't adding any more coolant. Check it over the first few drives and that's usually it.

I've drilled holes in my thermostat if they werent present.
 
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gotcha.

So if you have an empty system, i.e. if you did a flush or something is it best to definitely put coolant back in the block via the front of the intake? If you don't do that and just proceed to fill like you would during a normal thermostat change/fill, would that definitely run the risk of heating that block up too much initially before the stat would have opened to allow coolant to the block?
 
That's what the hole is for, air out as you fill, I squeeze the bottom hose a bunch while filling, just me, everybody has their own way, most all work, a couple things to remember, check the radiator and overflow tank several times before driving, cold of course, coolant is hot, like 180*+ and under pressure, anything it touches, radiator shell, hoses are that hot or more. Your skin won't like it, ask me how I know........
 
maybe you misunderstood slightly but I was mainly talking about if you flush the block and then the block is empty as well as the radiator.

Or so if you have some in the overflow tank and start filling the radiator and before you even start the car, does some transfer to the block and so therefore when you start the car the block isn't empty before the thermostat opens to let coolant in the block?
 
as you are filling the radiator the block is filling at the same time.
the overflow or puke tank as I call it, only comes into play during cool down, overheating will push coolant into the puke tank.
don't over think it.
 
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If you have all the coolant out that you can get out, fill with 2 gallons of Coolant/Antifreeze, then top off with distilled water. ( at the supermarket)
Then do the start, top off, cooldown....
Add some coolant to your overflow also.... .....

OR, What I like to do on a fresh engine is fill with distilled water first.... If you have a leak, its only water instead of coolant all over..
No leaks, see above..
Leaks, fix leak and repeat until no leaks.. see top of this post...
 
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