How to Bleed Air on a Ford Windstar Coolant System
by Allen Moore
When changing coolant or doing any repair to a Ford Windstar's cooling system, you can introduce air into the system that must be bled out for it to work properly. If air is allowed to remain in the system, it can displace the coolant, preventing the coolant from removing heat from the engine. While it is never advisable to work on a cooling system when the engine is warm or hot, you must run the engine briefly during this procedure. Try your best to let the vehicle cool down if the needle on the temp gauge begins to climb.
Step 1
Mix the coolant and distilled water equally into a gallon jug.
Step 2
Run the engine for a few minutes after topping off the coolant overflow tank and then shut it off.
Step 3
Raise the hood and open the coolant overflow bottle and fill it to the "Cold Fill" line using the mixture of coolant and distilled water you created in step one.
Step 4
Run the engine again for several more minutes with the bottle open. While the engine is running, switch the internal temperature setting to hot so your heater is blowing full blast into the passenger compartment. Continue this until you notice the coolant level going down. Once this occurs, shut the engine off again.
Step 5
Open the coolant overflow bottle. Top the coolant again with the coolant and distilled water mixture. If you still feel there is air in the system, move to step six.
Step 6
Drive the vehicle until it reaches full operating temperature and then park it and shut the engine off. Wait for the engine to cool back down, which can take up to 12 hours depending on the ambient temperature. Once the engine is cool, open the overflow tank again and fill it to the "Cold Fill" line.
Tips
- While the overflow bottle isn't pressurized, the rest of the cooling system is when the engine is warm. Never remove a hose or any other portion of the cooling system when the engine is warm. Pressurized steam at a temperature far above boiling can be released causing severe injury and/or death.
Things You'll Need
- Coolant
- Distilled water
- Gallon jug
Writer Bio
Allen Moore's career includes awards in poetry and creative fiction, published lyrics, fiction books and nonfiction articles as well as a master certification in automotive service from the Ford Motor Company. Moore is a contributing writer for RF365.com and various other websites, a ghostwriter for Rainbow Writing and has over a dozen works of fiction currently in print.
