Bleeding Weapon X Exchanger
 

Does anyone have tips for bleeding the Weapon X exchanger and LT4 blower?

I have air in the system somewhere and cannot seem to get it out. I have bleed the system from the WX bleed line, the supercharger fill valve and both bleeder screws on the front of the blower. Still no luck.

This morning it was 67 degrees here in Houston and blower temp was 140 once I got to work (7 Miles @ approx 30 mph due to traffic). I would expect temps to have remained around 100 or less with the cool air outside. Does anyone else have temps this high?

As a note I have the Weapon X front mount intercooler, LT4 blower (2.3 pulley) and the NX Lid.

my suggestion is to get a reservoir to ensure no air pockets exist. Obviously, use their bleed line too and make certain there is a steady stream.

When bleeding the system, I have a funnel and clear vinyl tubing running to the fill valve on the front of the blower which is full of dexo/water mix. I'm going to mess with it again tomorrow morning and see what I can come up with.

Any other tips are still welcomed.

Using a vacuum charging tool is by far the best and easiest way to bleed the system. I was working on getting some fittings together to work with the BMW vacuum filling tool we have, but I ended up just doing a reservoir. While I haven’t replaced my heat exchangers or anything, I think it would self bleed.

1. Some have had luck with jacking the front up to make sure that the port by the blower is at the highest point.

2. You have to cycle the push button several times to draw the coolant and make sure that you get no air pulled in hence some type of way to keep coolant full above the valve and sealed.

someone had a pic of a funnel taped onto the valve(since they didn't have the tool) in the funnel was full of coolant(it has to be sealed good so you dont pull air) so each time you hit the start button (do not start the car) it draws coolant in. it might take 2 people one to depress the valve down manually while 1 person pushes the button. Its better the have a quick disconnect that fits the valve with a hose and a container/funnel above plugged into the valve while filling. DO NOT LET THE FUNNEL OR CONTAINER GO DRY EVER) or it will pull air in.

If you draw air in or hit a pocket the pump will stop... so once you hear it shut off or circulation stops you have to start all over again. if it stays running till the ignition times off I'd say its full with no air.

Do you know where to by the tool which allows for the use of a vacuum pump?

I can ask my buddy at dealer but I figure the usual snap on, Matco, for dealers.. Here is aftermarket

https://redirect.viglink.com/?format...r-bleed-kit%2F

Or Gspeed

the vacuum tool and such is a PITA and not necessary IMHO. Use a funnel, tube, and depress the black plastic button with a long 1/4" socket extension. Keep the funnel full and run until all bubbles are gone...simple. Or get a reservoir and all of your worries are instantly gone.

Sorry guys, just saw this. If you put the car in service mode (hold start button withOUT pressing the brake pedal) it will kick the IC pump on to move the fluid. From there, if you can't get the Kent Moore fitment tool (makes it a breeze but a waste for one off), then Stephen has it right; however, you need to cycle the pump and circulate the fluid because if you don't do this, the highest point are the IC bricks which hurt you the most when pocketing air. We do all we can with supplying the bleeder, but GM didn't do us any favors with their cost cutting eg. no hx sys regular fill ports, liquid gaskets on the engine, etc.

It would seem I have run the system until all bubbles were gone. I have used a funnel, tubing and depressing the valve with a broad tip flathead screwdriver. I had the system running for 30 minutes or more including kicking it on and off and starting the car in order to avoid battery drain. My reasoning for thinking there is still some air in the system is that the car is consistently in the 140 degree IAT2 (IAT after bricks). I feel like this is waaaayyy too high, however, I still have not received much feedback on what a stock ZL1 runs for IAT2 temps. One more note is following the car sitting when going into a store, etc. the temps get up in the 160-170 range and then pretty quickly drop...to the high 140s. Really the lowest I have seen is 64 degrees outside (low humidity) and still blower temps in the 120s...again a nearly 60 degree delta.

My ride is LT1 with the LT4 blower (2.3 upper at approx 610whp) and I would expect much lower temps with the WX system adding additional coolant.

What kind of temps can I expect out of this system? I mean this morning it is 84 degrees here in Houston and 54% humidity. I would not expect a nearly 60 degree delta between ambient and IAT2 temps. I have to get this solved or at least reassurance that somehow this temperature range is "normal" for the ZL1. I don't want to cause harm to either the blower or worse...the engine.

That doesn’t sound right to me. I watch my IAT2s from time to time on my P3 gauge. At a steady cruise with good airflow over the heat exchangers (like a freeway drive), my IAT2s are maybe 10-15 degrees above ambient.

When parking the car with a hot engine (like when going into a store for 20 minutes), it’s very normal for the temps to climb — but they should come back down to normal with some airflow. Still, I’ve never seen temps anywhere near what you’re reporting. I know it’s not nearly as hot on the California coast as it is in Houston, but we get the occasional heat wave. I’ve driven this car in 90+ degree weather, and have not experienced what you have.

I’ll look at some of my logs and pay closer attention to my live readings next time I drive the car, but I definitely think there’s air in your system or something else wrong.

Yes you likely have air in there. IAT2s are almost always within 10* and other than diagnosing air pockets are otherwise a useless PID because the spark map is based on the Manifold Air Temp which is calculated. I have shared a lot of that info here as far as what you guys should be looking at. :nod:

https://weaponxmotorsports.com/blogs...th-a-15-pulley

My directions are easier lol..

How much are you overdriving the blower upper and lower?

I've done a few runs lately with vararam intakes I have just a lower in 100 weather and high humidity I see 120s during a 3rd pull from 2000 rpm till redline.

incidentally lower the fender IAT helps a ton with this new intake Im seeing a lot lower blower IATS by doing so.. less knock retard to 0, timing went from 16.X to 19.5, MAF is in low 800s compared to 900s..

I understand that the ECU doesn’t use IAT2 directly, but it is a big part of the manifold air temp calculation as far as I know. But like you mentioned, it’s a good PID to use for diagnostic purposes — which is why I was referencing it in this situation. MAT is what I pay attention to when logging.

That said, does an LT1 even use manifold air temp?