TECH

BLEEDING THE COOLING SYSTEM

PROCEDURE FOR BLEEDING AIR OUT OF THE PANTERA COOLING SYSTEM

By Garth Rodericks and other contributors to the various DeTomaso forums

Jacking the Rear of the car
To properly bleed your Pantera’s cooling system, use the following procedure:

  1. Jack the REAR of the car up as high as you can.
  2. Remove the cap on the pressure/swirl tank and top off the coolant.
  3. Open the bleed-valve at the top corner of the driver’s side of the radiator and allow any air to escape. Hold a rag there to avoid a mess and prevent coolant from collecting in the lower valence panel.  When it stops bubbling and is mostly water, close the valve.
  4. Top off the pressure tank again if necessary and put the cap back on.
  5. Start the engine, let it idle and rev it a few times for about a minute. Then shut off the engine.
  6. Return to Step 2 above, and repeat 3-4 times.


This should clear out all the air trapped in your engine and cooling system.

Alternative Method – Jacking the Front of the car
Some insist that when filling the cooling system with fresh coolant you should jack the front of the Pantera.

  • Raising the front of the Pantera allows air trapped in the engine to escape, and air trapped in the right-hand under-car pipe to flow to the radiator.
  • Raising the rear of the car allows air trapped in the left hand under-car pipe to flow to the engine, thus requiring the engine to be purged again by raising the front of the car.
  • Once filled and purged, a Pantera operated under normal conditions shall be driven up and down steep driveways and hills, therefore the purging process takes place continuously while driving the car, but periodic manual bleeding of air from the radiator is still required (unless the recovery tank is modified to perform as a head tank, and the radiator is vented to the head tank).

USING VACUUM TO PURGE AIR FROM THE COOLING SYSTEM

Probably the most effective way to fill your cooling system and purge air is to use a Coolant Vacuum Refill Kit/Tool as can be purchased on Amazon or from your favorite auto parts store.​

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Radiator Caps

  • Test your radiator cap to make sure it’s holding pressure to spec, even if it’s brand new.  Club members have observed that approximately 1/3 of brand new radiator caps are bad right out of the box!


Water Tank Neck

  • The OEM water tank neck on the Pantera’s swirl tank is a “Euro” design, which means it’s deeper and US radiator caps will not seal and hold pressure.


Temperature Sender

  • The coolant temperature send was incorrectly mounted in the OEM water tank (swirl tank) which only registers the temperature of the coolant in the tank, or air in the tank of your coolant level is low.  The temperature sender must be relocated to the engine block, just above the water pump.