Ok so I replaced the coolant temperature sensor on my '91 Corvette - located between the 6 & 8 cylinders. I pulled the sensor out and obviously all of the coolant drained out of the motor as I couldn't seem to get the new screwed in in time. I've read my shop manual and it states to only fill coolant in the coolant recovery reservoir and not in the radiator surge tank. Well now I'm running the car and there's absolutely no coolant in the motor - I can squeeze the upper radiator hose and it's empty but the reservoir and surge tank both have coolant in them - how do I get coolant sucking back into the motor? I turned the heat on and it blows cold - obviously 'cause there's no coolant left in the motor.
I tried running the motor with the cap off of the surge tank thinking that might great some kind of vacuum - I'm lost as to how to correctly replace coolant.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Shane

 

As the engine heats up the coolant expands and needs to go somewhere.
That's when the coolant goes to recovery instead of spitting it out on the ground.
It is the engine cooling that draws coolant back into the radiator.
The directions for only adding coolant to the recovery resivoir is in order to keep the system topped off. Go ahead and fill the radiator. Once it is full, you only need to add coolant to the recovery resivoir if it gets low. Note that the tank has "Hot" and "Cold" levels.

 

Thanks for the post C3! I don't remember seeing a cap on the radiator as to where to pour the coolant in - I can remove the upper radiator hose and use a funnel to pour the coolant in that way.
Thanks again.

Shane