Question on radiator bleed screw?

[SyncroMatt]

I’ve been bleeding my 2.1DJ cooling system today after a significant lay up. I managed to remove almost 17L of old coolant from the system.

engine is running well, I’ve got about 16.75L in so far with some of that in the expansion tank for when it cools down.

all pipes to the radiator and heater are hot, radiator is hot almost to the very top, radiator fan kicks on and off as it’s meant to do.  Temperature gauge is stable and working well. My blower fan blows the fuse so I can’t tell you if the heater core is hot yet.

my issue is when I open up the radiator bleed screw I don’t get hissing or fluid issuing out. I have almost wound it out completely.

so is the radiator bleed screw just a standard bolt with a heavy duty washer as that is what I have?  Or is it a special one with a slot in it?

van presently cooling and I’m having a brew.  Matt

[Stesaw]

I think mine has a slot in it. I only have to wind it out a few turns before it starts pissing out coolant.

[multisi]

When its cold take out rad bleed screw and syphon water into the rad.

[SyncroMatt]

Answered my own question. The groove or slit is in the threaded part in the radiator. The bolt is just a standard job.

So thoughts now turn to how much pressure the system is under while running and how to measure it.

Or perhaps be happy I have 17.5l of coolant in there and a functioning van with steady temp.

[Mocki]

You only need to turn the bleed screw about 3 turns , and you really need the system up to pressure before you undo it if you think you have 163/4  litres in , run it up with the headertank cap on and undo the rad bleed when the rad gets the hot side of warm .