At startup after a few preliminary revs of the engine I hear the sound of coolant rushing through the heater core I assume. Is this a normal sound that most experience or a sign that I need to flush out my heater core?

i had that sound in one of my loyales..... it needed more of a fix than a flush. the drivers side head was cracked and leaking into the exhaust. the radator held pressure and i would often hear a rushing water sound on start up (and when i turned off the car too). that was on an ea82 though.

At the very least check your coolant level. You may ant to replace the radiator cap since you may be sucking some air in. How old is the coolant. May not be a bad idea to do aflush if its over two years old.

 

 

nipper

I dont hear it at shut-down, it only last for about 4 seconds at startup. My EA81 hatch did the same thing and the motor doesnt get hot or anything.

Did both hoses, upper heater hose, and thermostat and gasket (Yes, GD I got them from the dealer per your advice). I put new coolant in when I did this work on Saturday.

its just air in the heater core, if you dont bleed the system properly it does that, my RX did that and it freaked me out too, but it went away when i drained the system and refilled it on a hill revving the engine.

Yup, air in the the coolant. Bleed it somehow. Jack the front end up in the air so the radiator cap is above the heater core, and wait for the car to warm up with the rad cap off. This will push all the air out.

That will work, thanks fellars. I will try and get around to doing that this weekend, I could always pull onto a parking curb and do it. Maybe I could get one of them pictures like the 4WD guys have and then I could finally fit in.

I had to backflush my heater core(garden hose trick) before I could get it to bleed properly and have the swooshing go away. A certain amount "slosh" is really common and not ussually a big deal. Look for other symptoms and their causes in the cooling system.

I find it kind of a comforting sound.

 

It lets me know I still have antifreeze.

 

It's a similar concept to seeing new and shiny oil stains under my car.