Disintegrated air relief valve - do I even need it?

[chairmankaga]

I was bleeding some air this weekend to improve my heater output and the engine-side inlet of the air relief valve broke off inside the hose, and when I tried removing the remains it literally crumbled inside the hose. So a good hour later, after buying a spring hose clamp tool and removing the debris from the hose, I had a 3/4" solid metal coupler in its place. None of the Infiniti or Nissan dealers have the part in stock except one, conveniently around the corner from my office, but the parts manager refused to sell me the part because it's for an Infiniti (!!!). Infiniti could have it by Wednesday.



However, this morning the temp gauge was bouncing all over the place, so I assume I didn't get all of the air out of the system. I'd prefer to not drive it like this, although my project car is less reliable. It's Italian...

So, if I can adequately burp the system through the radiator with an airtight funnel - https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-24680-Spil ... B00A6AS6LY - is the valve even necessary? I feel more confident with a metal coupler in there than a plastic part. My real question is, is the valve more of a convenience for maintenance, or is it required?

[Ilya]

Personally I'd go with the OEM piece...

Also, noticing your Hamster quote in your sig...what Alfa ya got? lol. The new one they showed on The Ground Tour was pretty shnazzy...but too small for Jezza lol.

[chairmankaga]

I'm going to order it from an OEM supplier. It's about $15 less than the dealer's parts department. But for the time being I'm leaving the coupler in and will just try to burp the system as well as possible via the radiator.

My Alfa is a 1982 GTV6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy3zNms9Cw0. I'm REALLY into the new Giulia sedan though. The Quadrifoglio is too rich and too bonkers for my blood, but I'll be willing to be the midrange Ti (300hp turbo 4, RWD) will be a steal as a 1- or 2-year old lease return. It's $40k MSRP new, but it'll probably trend with used Cadillacs and Jaguars, meaning colossal depreciation, probably in the mid to low $20k range with 20k miles. Just be sure to get the FULL extended warranty. Because it WILL break, and break catastrophically with no warning.

[EdBwoy]

It's there for convenience. Usually it's the highest point in the cooling system.
If you have rhe front of the car highbenough and just fill the system slowly enough, giving it time to self burp, it should achieve the same result.

... but the parts manager refused to sell me the part because it's for an Infiniti (!!!)...

People are strange, I tell you.

[chairmankaga]

I'm picking up that Lisle airtight funnel at lunch and will go home to give it a whirl. My driveway is on a slight incline but I think I'll go with jackstands, just to be sure. My neighbors 5-Series wagon was also having some heater and temp fluctuation issues, so maybe we can go halvsies on the parts...

[steve_c]

The Lisle funnel should easily solve your problem.
It is one of my 3 favorite tools in the garage.
The most updated version now has a clear funnel, so you can easily see the amount of anti-freeze in it without having to look down into the funnel, or using a flashlight to peer into the sides of the yellow plastic.

Once attached to the radiator, it provides a leak proof seal so that any anti-freeze that rest in the funnel is now above the highest point of the engine. A slight incline in the driveway might help a bit, but I think jack-stands would be totally unnecessary.

I would not want to go halves with anyone on a tool like this. The temptation for some might be to use the kit for other applications, and several small pieces are in the kit that can be easily misplaced.

Buy it all for yourself, you will not regret it! It is one of those tools that pay for itself in time, labor & material costs the first time you use it! It truly is a 5 Star product!

[chairmankaga]

Yep. It worked like a champ. I spent a couple of hours cycling the car between idle and revving to 3k and holding for a minute, refilling, etc etc etc. About 90 minutes in, during a rev cycle, the heater literally went blast furnace in my face. I was monitoring actual temp on my OBD scanner and it dropped pretty quickly from 220 to 194 and held. It continued to “fart in the bath” a few more times before stabilizing.

I’m guessing there was a huge air bubble somewhere around the junction where the valve broke, which is right by the heater core inlet, and revving the engine put enough pressure in the system to blow it out. The funnel drained almost to the base after the Big Burp, maybe a half liter, so it must have displaced a LOT of air.

[Ilya]

lol @ fart in the bath

[chairmankaga]

And I can report zero temperature problems during the rush hour trudge home yesterday or back to the office today, that the heater worked better than it ever has, and also that the Lisle Spill-Free Funnel is an essential tool for the DIY'er. I have no doubt it'll make my annual flush and fill job for our three cars much easier come summer.
$30 well spent.
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-24680-Spil ... B00A6AS6LY