I wonder when that changed. My '77 has one. This is an interesting thread. I ordered one of these little suckers, thanks for the heads up. My car has always required bleeding every once in a while, and some air always comes out. A couple years ago I replaced all the large coolant hoses from the engine to the radiator and back. Alas, the problem persists, which makes me believe the issue is a heater hose/fitting. I have been putting that off because to do it right I need to drop a fuel tank to get the new hose from the engine to the heater cores through the side of the car. I guess that will be this winter's project. I'm also going to replace the fuel lines (again!) to an ethanol safe type.
Got you covered on the smaller diameter fuel lines. There has been a sizable local interest in kits for the carbureted 8 and 12-cylinder cars. On the filler and cross-over line hoses, I'd strongly encourage you to use the SRI hoses. With more than 20 sets now running around up here, I couldn't be more satisfied with the quality.
You may want to get another for the t-stat housing. Wow, spotlight is on this mod now. Good luck Birdman and I hope it is as easy and successful for you as well. Note: Please noboby tell the supplier that this is for a Ferrari, the price will just go way up. I'm just sayin'
I didn't have any luck finding a fitting at Home Depot or Little Hardware. I will try Lowe's tomorrow. Sent from my SCH-M828C using Tapatalk 2
Without anyone pissing, can we learn what you put in your car as your expertise is worth its weight in gold...?
For those who need an adapter for the auto vent, as I do....here's what I found: http://www.ebay.com/itm/310320348415?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619#ht_2150wt_1195
I don't engage in the pissing anyway In my car, I run 50/50 Peak and a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter. After I have the radiator serviced and know that it's in top shape, I'll see how she behaves and may tweak things. Right now, I'm really just compensating for reduced radiator efficiency.
You are correct! The adapter is 7mm but I guess with the Teflon tape I wraped around it the thing went in snug as a bug. I drove it for about 1/2 hour today and no leakage or loosening. I did order the adapter that you found and will change it however.
The adapter seemed like a good idea. It would be a bummer to have that thing blow out of there on the highway Sent from my SCH-M828C using Tapatalk 2
Until really proven I carry both bleeder screws as backup. Just in case. However, I have to tell you for me it is really cool having the temp gauge always less then half way. It nudged half with the A/C on and city driving.
I received the eBay adapter and it couldn't be more wrong for what I'm trying to do. If anyone ordered it on my account, I will be happy to send Starbuck's credits, etc. I'm going to have to figure something out. I may have to pass on the rear vent.
Guys, I know this will sound snotty and I don't really mean that way. But I just don't understand how some of the same people who spend money for the "best available" stuff, like Dave's hose, can, at the same time do this jury-rigged bleeder thing instead of repairing the cooling sys leaks that are causing the air in the system in the first place. I'm sorry...I just flat don't get it. Can somebody 'splain it?
Well, my question just used the product as an example of a good part that people buy. My point is that folks talk about "it's a Ferrari, so buy good parts," etc. And then they band-aid a broken system instead of fixing it. I'm really trying to understand the logic...
Well if it was as simple as running up to the parts store and shelling out $100-200 for a brand new radiator, I'm sure we would all do that. Not the case though....so I have also ordered one of these, this car always seems to have just a little bit of air in it, this sure can't hurt. Maybe I'm getting air in from a pinhole leak in the radiator? Maybe the waterpump is causing it? Maybe there is an air pocket somewhere I just can't get out? I don't know yet, and this seems like a great idea to me- constant bleeding, whenever needed. And I thought my Porsche 944 Turbo was a pain to bleed with it's 30+ coolant hoses and connections......I've never seen so many threads about cooling system bleeding as on this forum, it's a quite common problem.
"I've never seen so many threads about cooling system bleeding as on this forum, it's a quite common problem." Yes, but the problem is a result of wear (or neglect) over time, not a problem with the car/engine design. I can understand band-aiding it for some temporary period but calling it a "fix" is misleading, it just hides the symptoms of a problem - which could be anything from pinholes/cracked hoses/corroded fittings/bad clamps to a leaking head gasket. If I was shopping to buy a 3x8, seeing a bleeder installed on one would make me leave. But it seems as though a lot of folks are perfectly OK with it and seem to think it's a GOOD thing. Maybe when I sell my 328 I'll put one on!
+1 Also, would air constantly entering the system, even if its later expelled, not cause increased corrosion?
Since I added the over flow tank to the expansion tank this problem has gone away. Every once in a while I try bleeding the radiator and only fluid comes out.
Oxygen+water+heat= rust. Antifreeze still has water and rust can mean aluminum corrosion also. Once that oxygen has reacted with the metals, corrosion will stop. All the plugged radiator complaints are likely because of air getting into the system too often, possibly because the coolant is changed too often. If you could analyze the "air" being bled it will not have any oxygen left in it, that all ended up as rust and corrosion in the system. Old hoses can get permiable and chunk off internally, but that's a different issue. my 2 cents
While I'm sure there are 308's out there that are pulling air into their cooling systems, I will point out that the 308 cooling system is very subsceptible to problems caused by air disolved in the coolant when the cooling system is filled, even when the system is in perfect condition. When I re-assembled my QV engine after the initial teardown, I filled the cooling system the easy way (pour it in and bleed it), but I noticed that I could bleed air out of the system hundreds of miles following the fill. Initially I thought I had an air ingestion problem, but refilling by pulling a vacuum (the modern approach) and with pre-warmed coolant (to reduce the disolved air) eliminated the problem. I have since put a bunch of thermocouples in the QV coolant passages to look at the cooling system a little closer. I suspect that the QV cooling plumbing is a substantial improvement over the 2v version, but the QV heads put a lot of stress on coolant: there's a significant amount of nucleate boiling going on in these heads. It's this localized heat stress that is driving the disolved air out of the coolant and thus causing the air bleed issues even in otherwise well maintained cooling systems. The layout of the cooling system in the 308 exacerbates the issue as the system is not self-bleeding and thus does not tollerate bubbles once formed. Based on my own experience I would strongly suggest that 308 cooling systems be filled via a vacuum proceedure, and I would suggest pre-warming the coolant (to drive off disolved oxygen) as extra insurance. Further, I now believe it is absolutely essential to run a 30% mix of e-gycol, rather than the stadard 50%: yes the boiling point is reduced ~5degF, but there is a substantial improvement in heat capacity and flow so net-net the heads run cooler. (And hey, the viscosity improvment going down to 30% can actually be felt....) And distilled / deionized water is an absolute requirement! -frank
I ordered the Aladdin Micro from "smartgreenshop" in the UK. I thought the correct adapters were included, but it seems I do not have the correct adaptor due to misinterpretation of the adapters supplied. The package says 1/4" and 1/8" threads ... but I guess they mean the thread itself, right? Can anyone tell which diameter/thread size I should have for the radiator bleed screw? Maybe also a link to the correct adaptor?
