We just put a new radiator and thermostat in my 04 Grand Cherokee Laredo -we can not get the bleeder fitting loose let alone out - what can we do?

 

are you refering to the petcock valve on the bottom of the radiator?

 

No -it is the bleeder fitting on the top of the engine where the top radiator hose goes into. A friend came out last night and he torched it we were able to finaly get it out. That fitting has kept me from being able to fill my radiator for atleast 2 days now. We tried everything to by-pass it. None of us has ever seen anything like this before. Took it for a test drive last night and seems to running fine and will be driving it to work today.

 

Im guessing you have the 4.7L, they have the bleeder right by the upper hose in the metal housing. What you can do is loosen the upper hose, or take the hose off to fill the radiator with coolant, when it runs out of the upper hose/connection then put the hose back on. Sometimes it even helps to jack the front end up to help the coolant flow into the engine and push air up to the top and front. Fill the system the rest of the way and run it for awhile maybe 30mins, and let it cool and recheck coolant level. It would be a good thing to check the coolant level the next day or two also.

Bleeders are there for convenience mainly, but they sure help with at least getting enough coolant in the engine for circulation. They dont get all the air out so rechecking the level after it warms up and then cools down is usually necessary.

 

Thank You. A friend came out and torched the fitting and we were able to get it out. Amazed - we couldn't get more then a gallon antifreeze in it before, with it out the jeep took 3 gallons. -Yes its a 4.7