Thermostat change now air lock

[Diluxe]

So changed the thermostat over the weekend, and I have the following symptoms
Fluctuating water temp
Hoses take time to go hard and when do force the water back to the bottle
Fans when do kick in only do so for a few seconds.

I've tried all the bleeding instructions but I can't get my head round what's going on.

Any help greatly appreciated

[itavaltalainen]

is the belt going round the right way on the water pump?

kneaded the bottom rad hose with expansion tank closed and engine running?

[Diluxe]

Never touched the belts and all was good before hand.
I've massaged the 5hit out of both hoses, I got hand cramps 

[northeast_gti-t]

when i changed mine the other week i filled the header tank very SLOWLY heater set to hot and once filled to max level started the car until it got to temperature had the coolant warning light on even though the level was full i just kept an eye on it to be sure not to let it drop below min,heater was cold so i left the header tank cap off squeezed top and bottom hoses and heater matrix hoses going into the bulkhead and held the throttle body open at 2000 rpm for about a minute at a time observing coolant flowing into header tank from the hose for bubbles keep doing this and squeezing the hoses and eventually you will expel any airlock my heater hoses warmed up and as the stat opened could feel the top and bottom hoses warming and rad core as coolant flowed through,after all this end result was hot air from the heater etc i left it over night and topped the header tank back to max all sorted.

[Jasikasisback]

just leave the expansion cap off overnight and run it witt the heater on full blast. if there is an airlock it will force its way into the expansion tank while you are kneading the hoses. i drove the car around a little bit without the cap on by mistake for about 5 miles...that will get airlocks out but i dont recommend it;)

[Diluxe]

just leave the expansion cap off overnight and run it witt the heater on full blast. if there is an airlock it will force its way into the expansion tank while you are kneading the hoses. i drove the car around a little bit without the cap on by mistake for about 5 miles...that will get airlocks out but i dont recommend it;)

Did a 11 mile drive last night with cap loosely on and still the water was backed up into the bottle.

I think I'm just gonna have to drop the fluids and try again.

[Jasikasisback]

do you get a rush of air when you undo the expansion cap? I "aired" mine out a few times and it was fine...is your heater blowing normal and hot or just really weak or not heating up at all?

I noticed that mine was blowing very weak and then after a drive I took off the expansion cap and let the car run while and pulled the throttle cable so it would rev around 2000 or so..

Once the fluid in the expansion tank went up and the first bubbles came out I stopped revving and quickly shut the car off..(to minimise fluid loss)

I am not sure if this is absolutely safe or not for the water pump and thermostat..but I didn't let the fluid come to a complete boil...

I had my son knead the hoses while I did this...

It seems to have worked for me....and no harm done to the car....and the heater works very well now after  not working properly...

Maybe the car didn't have a chance to heat up properly and have the thermostat open?

Might be worth a try...

[Diluxe]

cap screwed down, hoses become solid, as soon as i open the cap the water rushes back to the bottle and the hoses become soft.

heat coming into the car varies between luke warm and hot.

am i right in thinking that the coolant goes out from the bottle to the rad from the top hose, round the rad back out to the block from the bottom hose? where does the stat fit into this flow?