Help :( :( cooling issue 1.8 cabby

[plugy]

Hi all, 

Got a serious issue. Chose to change the coolant due to it smelling inside when blowing warm/hot air through the vents. Smells of hgf/ burning water.  Dropped the coolant and it was very erm rusty! Took the thermostat housing apart to change the thermostat. I undid the bolts i did not remove the top hose from the thermostat hose. 

Flushed thd system in situ i.e bottom hose undone from rear of engine not rad. Anyway, cleaned up the mating faces of the thermostat housing and put in the thermostat. Closed all the bleed valves and filled up the expanion bottle and bleed. 
Thing is it wont bleed at all... done this plenty of times. Dont use a pop bottle just never seem to need it. 

Problem is... 

Its getting hot (begins to flicker at 70 to 75 and flutters between the two) and then it does begin to rise at 90 it just boils and throws water everywhere for a few mins and when filling back up it makes a loud cracking noise ( like a dog playing with a pop bottle). 

We noticed tiny air bubbles coming from the thermostat housing and nipped up the studs/nuts which seems to have got it i think. 

Just to be sure on things, 

1) does the dome part of the thermostat face toward the hose when in the housing?.

2) is there a gasket between the block and thermo housing? When i removed it there wasnt one just the black seal.

Anyone any ideas??

Thanks
Rob

[insomaniac45]

sounds like a serious air lock.

Remove the N/S upper hose on the rad, then re-fil the system with it still off.
this is how i bleed my 306 cabbys rad, as she just was not clearing her air lock.

as for the other info, im not sure, i have not taken that lot off

[Eeyore]

Yeh bleed it properly. Bleed from near the heater matrix. THe bleed screw on the thermostat isn't even on all the models so dw about that one. Fill up the rad and squeeze the upper hose on the passenger side of the car. Put the heaters on max and leave the car running to get the thermostat to open and then continue to bleed and top up.

[welshpug]

heater matrix is fooked if you can smell it inside.

[insomaniac45]

it is prob near failure tbh,

this is what happens when we dont change the fluids often or run just water in the system