Pontiac Repair: thermostate, 1996 pontiac sunfire, pontiac sunfire, bleeder valve

Question
when i changed the thermostate a lot of coolent came out. I put more in the tank and now it is running very hot. it acts like it does not have any water. am i suppose to prime it? i allready had the waterpump changed

Answer
Hi Deirdre:

That engine is REALLY hard to expell the air out of it. fill up the tank to the full hot line and across the front of the engine if it's a 2.2 liter engine if a metal pipe above the exhaust manifold there is a small air bleed screw in it open that bleeder screw and levae it open untill the air is gone. then start it up and let it run untill it reaches operationg temp and you get some heat out of the vents. then turn it off and open that bleeder screw again. leav the cap off the radaitor bottle so it doesn't build up and pressure. If it builds up pressure and you open that bleeder you can get burnt from the hot coolant. try that a few times untill you do not get any air just coolant when you open up that bleeder. Now if this has a 2.4 engine it doesn't have a bleeder valve and they are even more difficult to bleed the air out. with that engine it's just a waiting game fill up the bottle and let it run untill it hit opertaing temp and then shut it off and top off the bottle again. It's a slow process and it's ahrder on this engine. Hope that helps you out :]
good luck !