Pontiac Repair: over heating, pontiac trans sport, radiator hose

Question
do a top radiator hose that is real hot and hard mean that you have a bad themostat on 1996 pontiac trans sport or do i have air in the system

Answer
Hi Mackel:

Well The top hose is the outlet from the engine so it should be hotter than the lower hose. If it's hard it means there is a lot of pressure in the system. If it has an air pocket it it it could over heat. There is an air bleedler valve on the pipe that runs across the valve cover on the front of the van run the van and open that valve slowly and see if it expels a lot of air. Those vals are hard to get the air out of due to the fact that the engine sits higher than the radiator. run it untill it's warm and open that valve and see it it vents the air shut the van off and let it cool off completly and then remove the radaitor cap and top off the coolant. Try this a few times and you should be good to go.