Still having Temp issues...bleeding woes inside

[Got Mayhem?]

Hey, back again with some more things to add to my neverending list of temp issues.

My car was running pretty well for about a month or so but lately my temp has been rising and climbing so I decided to try giving it another bleed. I tightened the hoses and did a pressure check and it looked like I was leak free. I pulled into my driveway (car is warm), jacked up the front, filled to the "cold" line, loosened the bleeding screw and started the car. (Heat is on full blast)

My temp started spiking but I wasn't too worried, I just kept watching the air come out and refilling the coolant when it got low. As I was holding the revs up all of a sudden a geyser of coolant began spewing out of my coolant "fill hole". I turned off the car and watched the uber-hot coolant bubble back down. I tried to bleed again but it just kept repeating the same eruption.

 All my hoses are hot, my temp gauge gets pinned all the way to the right, no hot air coming from my vents, and now I have smoke coming out of my bleeder screw. I suspect this is from coolant sneaking in from one of the eruptions from the radiator tank.

Any ideas? Should I just be a man, keep chucking in buckets of coolant to replace the neverending spills and ignore that terrifying temp gauge? Or am I missing something? I've just recently (<2000 miles) replaced the thermo.

Thanks as always everyone

More info...

Tried bleeding again, car just keeps heating up too much. The return hose to the radiator didn't get hot. I'm starting to suspect a bad waterpump or something up with my heater valve.

[DesktopDave]

I don't bleed the car once it gets hot...the steam will mess up the bleeding process.  I just fill the car up ice cold, then run it for a little while (maybe 5-10 minutes tops).  Then I shut the car off & refill the expansion tank up to the "kalt" cold line.  I used to bleed the car a few times later on, but never saw any bubbles.

The car has to be pressurized when it's hot or it'll boil over every time.

I mix really thin coolant though...2gal distilled water to 1gal coolant, with a half bottle of water wetter.  Really helps with bleeding and I've never had trouble with freezing over, even in Pittsburgh's chilly winters.

[Got Mayhem?]

Hey Dave, thanks for the reply as always

Refering to the comment about the system having to be pressurized, does this mean that you reapply the cap to the expansion tank whenever you start the car again? I feel as if I've seen guides that both do this and those that do not...

[Got Mayhem?]

Tried bleeding it two more times and it seems that everything is running fine now. It appears that every time I try to bleed this car the first time or so is a failure but it ends up more manageable the next day. Oh well.

[DesktopDave]

Yep - the cap has to be securely in place for the system to cool the motor properly.  Bleeding shouldn't take more than five minutes or so - otherwise the coolant will boil in the head passages and you'll end up with air pockets all over the system again.