During my last maintenance check, it was recommended that I do a coolant flush. The next day, my coolant level was very low, way below the minimum line. Took it back today and he tells me there was probably an air bubble that caused it to look higher than it was. He added more coolant and it’s all fine now.
The thing is, I feel like they should have checked for this before giving me the car back. If I hadn’t bothered checking, I might have been low on coolant, overheated the engine, etc. Is this a rookie mistake that should cause me to find a new guy?
Should mechanic have noticed air bubble in coolant?
jknightcs1
#1
galant
#2
No "bubbles’, he probably did not warm the car up for the thermostat to open and then top the level. Pretty novice mistake IMHO. Did the car overheat? Hopefully not. Was the work done by himself or some student at the shop? I would have reservations about using that shop.
Bodybagger
#3
There is an air purge valve on many cooling systems that must be opened slightly to bleed the air out.
Either way, this would have been detected if he brought it up to operating temperature. This is an omission on his part.
jknightcs1
#4
Didn’t overheat thankfully, but only because I decided to check the fluid levels just for the heck of it. He said he wasn’t the one who worked on it, so it sounds like some rookie guy screwed up. Problem is I just started using this guy based on some really good reviews, so now I have to either go have a talk with them or find someone else again. Ah well.
Thanks for the responses!
oldschool
#5
Myself, I did repeatedly check and bleed many times after having the cooling system open. We do see too many customers have to return to the shop for a system bleed, the "air in system’ that did not get bleed out at repair time is a mistake that happens too often.
I don’t care if it takes a complete warm up/cool down cycle and then a recheck, cars should not be sent out with air in the system, we all know about it and we all know ways to prevent it.