Bleeding the air out of coolant on 456M (?)

Hi Jeff. This is not rocket science actually. Just fill the tank with the screw open till it pours out of the screw. Tighten the screw and then start up. Screw it out once in a while to let the air come out. It can take some time. The tank has several hoses connected to it. They will all have to be open and unblocked. You can take them off the engine is cold and try to blow and see that they are open (pressure come put of the other hoses). Especially the small one from under the plenum can block quite easily. Just let the engine run at idle with the heater on. When steady flow of water comes at the bleed screw you are done. Drive and get some revs and then bleed some more. That should do the trick. Dave here (Ferraridriver), made a «steam vent hose» which is basically a small hose from the bleed screw to the top of the expansion tank. It makes this process no more a process. It becomes self bleeding and just add coolant and it is done. I did it to my car and I really love it. All new cars are like that. No reason ours shouldn’t...

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That sounds a bit odd to me. I had the same white residue of coolant spray when my reservoire cap was not tight. Bought a new one and it never came back. Air expands a lot more so when the engine heats up while you have a lot of air in the coolant system, the pressure get excessiv and the overflow function in the cap can open and make things start to happen. Make sure it is a tight cap first.

 

Doing the coolant on my 456M this weekend. Another vote for the QuickJack which gets the car to a workable height in about 2min (I spend a lot of time making sure the lifting blocks interface perfectly with the lift points). I also use Race Ramps for redundancy as I am getting right underneath the car.

Got the old stuff out which actually looked pretty good. From my binder of documents, looks like last flush was January 2020. Got the radiator plug and the RHS plug off the engine block, but there was no way I was getting to the LHS one. After about 45min of various tools, I was able to get a long 6mm hex key into the socket but was unable to generate any torque to loosen it. Seeing how I drained off a lot of coolant and the overall good condition, I feel discretion is the better part of valor here.

Refilling with Zerex G05 using a Venturi vacuum system. Will bleed afterwards according the WSM.

Overall a pretty fun job despite the mess. Having the F1 on in the background makes for a pleasant afternoon.

I still struggle with the vague descriptions in the WSM when it comes to torque specs. Page B76 of the 456M WSM has the torque spec of 9Nm for the 'water drain plug', which seems like not a lot. Typically I like to use a bit less force than the old German "Gutentight" from my Porsche wrenching. Can anyone confirm this is the correct torque for the radiator bolt?

Will report back with how it goes after a test-drive. Never had an issue with cooling, but I am really enjoying working on the car and getting to know more about it.

Wrench on!

 

What symptoms are you experiencing? Top it off cold, run motor to temp with full heat. I bled mine while running. Put a rag around the T-stat housing and just crack the bleeder screw half a turn with a long socket. Steam, bubbles or water will escape. Once its just coolant close it, go for a drive and repeat a few times. Once its cooled down later check and adjust the coolant level in the tank if needed.

If you are losing coolant and its not from the motor, suspect the electrical water pump which is behind the right front wheel well panel. Don't worry its a way bigger pain in the ass than it looks!

 

Oh duhhhh ‍... just noticed the dates... disregard

 

Yes apologies all for the thread bump. I never know whether to start a new one or not.

Summary: happy with result. Got out over 2/3 of what looked like pretty clean coolant. Used the vacuum tool and zero pressure was about 4cm below the top of the tank. Held negative pressure nicely so that’s a plus.

Bled via screw per WSM and went out for a run. Sits under 190 on the drive, and after 10min idling afterwards it sat bang on 190.

Followed it up with a Leatherique treatment and wash/wax. F1 in the background and a beer in hand.

Looking forward to the next job. Again, based on time and what I have in the service binder it looks like I’ll refresh the transmission filters (the easy ones) and the fluid.



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If you used a pressure filler, it really should not need bleeding. For folks without one, it helps to elevate the front of the car so the bleed valve is at the highest point.