Just had another go. I taped the end of my hoover up and created a makeshift slot for the rad bleed pipe: And after I filled up to the neck of the bottle, I stuck the hoover on for a few seconds. The level in the expansion bottle quickly dropped, so I topped it up to the neck again. Hoover...

I've got 1/2 the vacuum kit, just missing a compressor :( I did blow through the hose too. I'll have another go today

Would it be unwise to put the hose directly in to the cabin heater pipe and give it a good blast?

I believe I followed the RAVE method: - Drained as much as I could via rad plug - Slowly filled expansion tank with a hose on a small stream - Started engine, monitored level, waited for thermo to open - Stopped engine, waited for it to cool, topped up expansion tank again. I believe that's...

Just been out again and ran it for a while with the cap off to let any air escape. Still idled in the middle of the temp gauge. I noticed that the right side pipe to the cabin was hot, but the left side pipe was not. Possible air in the cabin loop?

Just went out again and topped up the water. Ran for about 10 minutes, temperature reading on the device was in the high 90s, possibly very slowly creeping up. Dash temp gauge in the middle. Noticed the blowers weren't that hot, so possible that there's still air trapped somewhere. Is there...

Needle was in the middle on the temp gauge. Don't say that now - I don't want another warped head on my hands!

It seems to be running fine - but I haven't left it running for too long just in case it was getting too hot. Upper rad hoses were scalding to the touch, but not rock solid, only quite hard. Once it's cooled I'll double check the levels and give it another go.

No leaks overnight. Drained coolant today via rad plug, and slowly refilled with just water for now. Followed the process in RAVE - but when I ran it again the temperature was averaging around 117-118C, which is decently outside normal range I believe? Reading was made via obd tool - temp...

I've pumped the tool by itself, will keep an eye on it. Finished reassembling, started up and seems to be running okay. No leaks so far. It did start to overheat after about 10 minutes, but I was expecting that because I haven't refilled the coolant properly yet. Will try tomorrow and see how...

20 minutes later and it's holding at around 14 psi. Maybe a very small variance from where it was at the start

Found a leak, water pump hose clamp. Tightened and pressurised to 14 psi again, fingers crossed.

Nearly 3 hours later, the pressure is down to 6 psi. Seems I've got some more digging to do

I've reassembled everything that's in the cooling circuit and pressurised to 15 psi. First attempt sent water everywhere because I didn't tighten a hose clamp properly. I've left it to dry and set the pressure at 15psi again, how long should the system hold this pressure before it starts to...

It has mostly gone well. New gasket is on and manifold is in place, with 11 out of 12 bolts in. The last bolt (5 in the tightening diagram, one before the left rear) is cross threaded, so it's become a pain. I didn't force it any further, it's a problem for tomorrow. It's got the fuel rail next...

Cheers, I'll have a go at that. And it's 17NM for the seal clamp bolts, right?

Remind me before I fit this new valley gasket: 1. Do I need to use RTV around the intake ports or just the coolant ports 2. Do I need any RTV on the rubber seals Thanks

I'm sure the pipe from the radiator to the expansion is correct because I can blow through it and hear bubbles, hopefully that means the other pipe is in the right place too

Ah I was hoping to leave the fan alone. Someone before me has nicely butchered the nut on it

It was a bit rusty coloured at first, then eventually ran clear. I'll take the rad off tomorrow - is it a pain to get out?