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Espace F4R cooling system bleed points

8K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  jack daniels 
#1 ·
02.2002 Grand Espace F4R 2.0 16v auto A/C:

when I start the engine there is a sloshing sound behind the dashboard probably caused by the heating system filling.
I suspect there is air in the cooling system. I recently removed and replaced a hose to repair a dripping connection.

Where are the bleed points on this F4R Espace engine?
Does anyone have a procedure for bleeding the cooling system. The heating system functions just fine otherwise.

The car has a 600w Defa engine heater fitted in the block. Sometimes if the heater has been on a long time, say 6 hours or more, there occasionally is a rattling sound when I cold start the engine that sounds like someone has droped a small ball bearing in the water pump. as soon as I increase the idle speed a bit it disappears until the next mornings' cold start.
I cant say for sure if the cold start noise is the water pump, it could be the VVT on the end of the cam shaft, or something else.
I'd like to try bleeding the system properly first as it has not been bleed at all. the fluid level is stabil and hasn't droped.
 

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#3 ·
Hi when i had my timing belt kit replaced last year on my 2002 2.0 16v espace i was told that the vvt was a sore point on the F4R espace but mines was good so it would be food for thought???

Iam not sure what the procedure is for bleeding the heating system but you will find the nipple here i have marked it with a yellow mark i hope this helps Donald
 

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#5 ·
Cheers tig;) :) i have never had to do it as yet touch wood that nipple in the pic is on a main heating pipe going into the bulk head to iam guessing thats what it is for:) it could be the scuttle panel but it sounds like its doing it on cold start up and when the car has been sitting over night the air is coming to the top of the system and then on start up the system is pushing the heating coolant round the system making the noise???
 
#6 ·
F4R cooling system bleed / VVT waterpump noise

this morning I bleed the radiator at a plastic bleed screw on the top of the radiator, there was a small amount of air there. The plug was not captive like on a jap car so of course it fell out, disapering out of sight.
Then I bleed the point illustrated above beside the reservoir, which I had overlooked previously. This point is higher than the reservoir, so It would probably help to allways have the reservior full to the max. mark especially when bleeding the system
No air came out of the illustrated bleed point. It seems the system has bleed itself with driving.

VVT:
21000 miles: PAS pump and drive belt replaced, due to sweat from pump.
21001 miles: new drive belt wrongly installed by dealer, came off
21002 miles: new cylinder head, water pump, and cam belt kit fitted after fan belt minced the cam belt (£3300)
21003 miles: ticking sound from VVT on the end of the camshaft, auto trans gearshifts a bit harsh.
21500 miles: VVT arangement replaced (£1200), ticking noise gone. gearshifts better
34000 miles: strange sound after cold starts sometimes, usually sounds like it comes from the VVT area, but only at idle. dissapears for the day after increasing idle speed to about 1200rpm or more.

all the above work was covered by the 5 year new car garantee without hagling

Im no VVT expert, however the VVT cam on the end of the camshaft is not variable it is only 2 position, either advanced or normal. A solenoid valve opens and shuts to allow motor oil pressure into the VVT cam chamber. I dont know if this extends or retracts the VVT cam. If the solenoid valve dosn't open when it should at a cold start it could be that air has come into the VVT cam chamber allowing it to be flung in and out a few times after a cold start causing noise. The VVT advances the inlet camshaft at every gearshift causing less torque (auto trans) and at high rpm.
Does anyone know how this VVT should function at startup?
I've used only 5w-40 synthetic oil incidentally, changed frequently.
I had a bosch diagnostic tool attached to the OBD connection and could see that the diagnostic tool indicated that the solenoid valve opened when I stood on the gas pedal in nuetral at about 5000rpm.
 
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