Bleeding 328 cooling system,,,,,,

Others may give you a better checklist for bleeding.

But the radiator removes heat from the coolent. Hot coolent goes in, cooler coolent comes out.
So it might not be that odd that the lower hose isn't "hot".
(Warm, but not hot. It might take a while for cooler coolent to warm the hose.)

One "tell" for air in the system is the temp gauge going up briefly, as air passes the temp sensor.

As for the "official" bleeding method, I couldn't say.

For my part, I usually top off the expansion tank, then use plastic bags, hoses, and a hand pump to put air pressure at the expansion tank cap, to force coolant through the non-running system, then bleed at the radiator (engine off).
After that, I put the cap back on, start the engine, and bleed the themostat and the radiator again.
I haven't actually checked the hose temps.

(You mentioned "heaters on", which even some shops forget. The 328 has two heater cores (one per side), so make sure they're both open.)

 

DGS got the right process.

Unscrew the bleeder at the radiator, fill the system up until water comes out of that hole. Tighten it.

Continue filling until water comes out of the bleeder hole at the thermostat, close that off.

Fill the system up, run the engine until it is hot, bleed air off at the thermostat.

For me, I do that last step with the engine cold, and a coolant hand pump.

 

FWIW, if you have to re-bleed the system periodically, between cooling replacement intervals, there is leak somewhere.

 

You don't need to do that. A Ferrari cooling system is just a typical cooling system like that on any car. Fill it with coolant, open the radiator bleed until coolant rather than air comes out. Do the same at the thermostat housing bleed. Ensure the expansion tank has some coolant in it - an inch or two is fine. That's it. You CANT get air into a non leaking system as long as there is some minimal level of coolant in the expansion tank when the engine is cold. The level of coolant in the tank will INCREASE when the engine is warm.

FWIW, the only bad thing that can happen if you overfill the expansion tank is that the overflow will spit coolant onto the ground when the engine is hot. After a few times, after the system expels the excess coolant, it won't do it any more.

 

Try this

Pressure Tester and Adapter at National Tool Warehouse

 

I have a hand vacuum pump that ejects to a plus-pressure port.
A cap with a hose fitting would be ideal, but lacking that, I just use plastic bags put over the expansion tank opening with a hose run thru it, all munged up with rubber bands.

The set-up that yelcab posted would work better.
But the main thing is to make sure you have coolant in the expansion tank before and after the process.

It's not a lot of pressure, so it's only different from Mike's description in degree.
Gravity (or pressure) pushes coolent from the expansion tank through the cold system until it reaches the bleed valves.

The bleed valves are the high points of the cooling system, not counting the fluid in the expansion tank.
If the fluid level in the expansion tank is above the bleed valves, gravity will do the job.
I use pressure because I'm impatient, and I find it saves having to repeat.

I tend to start with the expansion tank pretty full, so I often wind up overflowing coolant for a couple days after.

When the engine is running, any air bubbles will circulate around the system.
With the engine off, the air rises to the high points (bleed valves and expansion tank).

As Mike mentioned, as long as you don't have a leak, you won't have to repeat until next time you open the cooling system for service or fluid change.

 

"I use pressure because I'm impatient, and I find it saves having to repeat."

I admit that I certainly fall into that category myself! Maybe I'll buy a pressure tester!

"I tend to start with the expansion tank pretty full, so I often wind up overflowing coolant for a couple days after."

Yep, me too. I let the engine "find it's own level."

 

It takes a while to get all the air out as there are a bunch of places for it to hide like the heater cores. This is what I do. I warm up car while driving with the heaters open. Park on steep hill with engine running. Good e brake or helper needed. Let car run there for 5 mins. Get out while car running and open radiator bleed screw until coolant comes out. Key here is to get radiator substantially above the thermostat housing while the coolant is circulating. The air will build up at the front bleed screws. If everything is working you will notice each time a lesser amount of air bleed.

 

Well, maybe there was some change re 308/328 that made the 328 cooling system act like the cooling system on a "normal" car. There's just no drama involved and it's just as easy as doing the same thing on a chevy.

 

+1

 

that's very nice !

enjoy..