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Once I put my water pump back on and attach the hoses, can I just add coolant to the reservoir, or is there a bleed valve that I have to open to allow the coolant to flow through the system?
Just add coolant to the reservoir, then run the engine until the thermostat opens.
Let the engine cool, and bring the reservoir up to the correct cold level.
It helps purge all the air if the RPM is above idle, so I usually just drive the car until up to temperature, then let it cool.
No need... fill it w/ 50/50 of dexcool and de-ionized water until full. Then start the car w/ the reservior cap off. Let the car idle for 60 seconds. Then put the radiator cap on and cycle the car from idle to 3000 rpms at 30 second intervals until the coolant temp reaches 210 degrees per the DIC. This will allow the t-stat to open. Then turn the car off and slowly remove the reservior cap, careful to slowly release pressure.
Then... start the car and let it idle for 60 seconds w/ the cap off. The put it back on and cycle the motor again.
Then do the idle gig again, then cycle one more time and you're done. Top off as needed.
I have swapped out engines a couple of times and put coolant in run up to temp and thought it was full, Then to my surprise it wasnt. The last time I jacked up the front end of the car and heard a gurgeling sound and noticed the the resevoir down. I think i added about a gallon.
The procedure I've outlined above is the GM service manual procedure. I've used it at least 5 times as I drain and re-fill my coolant every 2 years, but I've swapped out radiators a few times.
Distillation
Main article: Distilled water
Distilled water is often defined as bottled water that has been produced by a process of distillation and has an electrical conductivity of not more than 10 µS/cm and total dissolved solids of less that 10 mg/L[1]. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean container, leaving most solid contaminants behind. Distillation produces very pure water but also leaves behind a leftover white or yellowish mineral scale on the distillation apparatus, which requires that the apparatus be frequently cleaned. Distillation does not guarantee the absence of bacteria in drinking water; unless the reservoir and/or bottle are sterilized before being filled, and once the bottle has been opened, there is a risk of presence of bacteria
For many applications, cheaper alternatives such as deionized water are used in place of distilled water.
Deionization
Deionized water, also known as demineralized water[2] (DI water or de-ionized water; can also be spelled deionised water, see Spelling differences), is water that has had its mineral ions removed, such as cations from sodium, calcium, iron, copper and anions such as chloride and bromide. Deionization is a physical process which uses specially-manufactured ion exchange resins which bind to and filter out the mineral salts from water. Because the majority of water impurities are dissolved salts, deionization produces a high purity water that is generally similar to distilled water, and this process is quick and without scale buildup. However, deionization does not significantly remove uncharged organic molecules, viruses or bacteria, except by incidental trapping in the resin. Specially made strong base anion resins can remove Gram-negative bacteria. Deionization can be done continuously and inexpensively using electrodeionization.
Deionization does not remove the hydroxide or hydronium ions from water. These are the products of the self-ionization of water to equilibrium, so removing them would lead to the removal of the water itself.