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Recently noticed some power lag on my 2016 z07 M7 when I get on the gas and after discussion on this forum it seems I have it narrowed down to air in my intercooler. I can see it in my reservoir, definitely more than the recommended “coin” amount.
just curious how people are bleeding the air out. The “cooler bleeder” that people advertise is about $700* for the complete package. I’m not too confident in the dealers I would use to bleed it as the conversations I’ve had with them doesn’t give me too much confidence in them. They couldn’t even give me a price to do it.
Post your location and that you are looking to get it done. There are enough of those bleeders around owned by fellow enthusiasts willing to help that you may just find someone local who will do a great job for a very reasonable price.
Recently noticed some power lag on my 2016 z07 M7 when I get on the gas and after discussion on this forum it seems I have it narrowed down to air in my intercooler. I can see it in my reservoir, definitely more than the recommended “coin” amount.
just curious how people are bleeding the air out. The “cooler bleeder” that people advertise is about $700* for the complete package. I’m not too confident in the dealers I would use to bleed it as the conversations I’ve had with them doesn’t give me too much confidence in them. They couldn’t even give me a price to do it.
so how do you bleed this air out on a budget?
thanks
On a budget? LOL. You own a Corvette what budget. Cooler bleeder is the most effective out there. If you were in South Florida come on over and I will bleed for you.
I had the same issue and used a $25 dollar hand vacuum pump jacked up the front of the car u til the rear exhaust was almost on the ground and manually shorted the inter cooler pump and I think I got 95% of the air out. A bunch of air burped thorough the hose and and I just kept releasing and pumping until I couldn’t get any more. I couldn’t find anyone local with a cooler bleeder but would have bought one if the low budget method didn’t work for me.
it noticeably changed the power and lag once warm. I just did a track day and had 0 overheating or lag issues.
‘I would just try that. If you’re not happy invest a bit more. Also I ended up with about the same or more air in the reservoir than when I started so in my opinion you cannot go by just the air bubble in the tank.
I had the same issue and used a $25 dollar hand vacuum pump jacked up the front of the car u til the rear exhaust was almost on the ground and manually shorted the inter cooler pump and I think I got 95% of the air out. A bunch of air burped thorough the hose and and I just kept releasing and pumping until I couldn’t get any more. I couldn’t find anyone local with a cooler bleeder but would have bought one if the low budget method didn’t work for me.
it noticeably changed the power and lag once warm. I just did a track day and had 0 overheating or lag issues.
‘I would just try that. If you’re not happy invest a bit more. Also I ended up with about the same or more air in the reservoir than when I started so in my opinion you cannot go by just the air bubble in the tank.
If you are not cycling the intercooler pump on and off during this process, you are missing quite a bit of the trapped air. Not saying you did or didn't, only posting this so that anyone that reads this in the future knows there is an additional step regardless of what you use to put a vacuum on the system.
That's correct. I setup a switch to manually switch on the inter cooler pump through the fuse panel and would pull vacuum and did many cycles of pump on/off, pressure on/off. That is an important step. The cooler bleeder just automates the process.
On a budget? LOL. You own a Corvette what budget. Cooler bleeder is the most effective out there. If you were in South Florida come on over and I will bleed for you.
I'm looking for anyone in mid florida (Parrish/Tampa/Sarasota) that might have one. Willing to pay and buy beer.
On a budget, you can bleed a C7 Z06 in factory form for ~$570 for The Cooler Bleeder, minus the vacuum pump. Many auto parts stores will loan you the vacuum pump for deposit cost only. I can also knock off a little more off that price through P2P payment methods (if you're comfortable with that) as it means I don't have to pay credit card processing and store front fees (Just reach out to me prior to ordering). Still not an inexpensive tool, but can lower the investment a fair amount.
is that essentially the same thing, minus the attachments that the cooler bleeder provides ?
Not quite but it can be modified to do the job. There is somebody on the forum that posted how to modify a similar setup do bleed the intercooler sometime early this year or late last year. The big differences Vs the Cooler Bleeder are the cost of the parts and the time it takes to get the air out. The cooler bleeder automates the process so you set it up and come back later. Using other methods you are going to spend 2 to 3 hours in the garage applying vacuum, running the intercooler pump, shutting it off, waiting for the air showing in the fluid to be pulled out of the fluid followed by refilling the intercooler by releasing the vacuum which sucks coolant out of the bleeder reservoir. Then repeating the process over and over until the air bubbles get small enough.
I use this tool (OEMTOOLS 24444 Coolant System Refiller Kit, 5 Adapters, Eliminate Trapped Air, Test Radiator and Heating Core Lines for Leaks, Vacuum Fill Coolant Tool):
to bleed mine. Using this tool's siphon style pump I used a compressor to pull 25 inches of vacuum on the intercooler. I had to use a piece of clear vinyl reinforced hose and two hose clamps to adapt the end of the tool to the intercooler fill port and a couple of gallon jugs to hold coolant. One held the coolant that would be drawn in when vacuum is released and the other held fluid that came out with the air.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Dearborn; May 5, 2023 at 05:54 PM.
im in the nashville tn area with a cooler bleeder if someone is having this issue. I have tried the clear tube bleed, a schwaben vacuum system bleed, a mityvac bleed and I stood there for 20 minutes and yelled at the car.
once I found a cooler bleeder used with all the attachements for 400$ shipped I bought it and used it. ended with more air than I had before!! tore my entire system apart looking for a leak and in the end I discovered I was using the bleeder IMPORPERLY at the end of the process . now I have 2 bubbles quarter size. moral of the story is
1. the cooler bleeder simply works the best
2. if you wont read the directions (like me!) then you need to be smarter than the equipment you are using!!
3. the inventor of the cooler bleeder ALTJAR is extremely responsive and helpful even when you haven't bought a system from him. cant say enough nice things get one and enjoy the process
Bleeding intercooler
