95 VW Cabrio - Coolant Issues

This past Friday my Cabrio had some issues with the coolant bulb; I put in distilled water to tide it over until I got some coolant and could get my partner to help me flush the system and redo it all. However, the top wasn't on all the way and popped loose, all the water boiling over and out of it.

This was all well and good; we put a little more water in it to get us to the store and home. We flushed the system and put coolant in it, but now it seems to be... well... not working at all.

MOre specifically, the temperature guage will go up to the notch past 230 on the guage; I check it, and the bulb is full of coolant. Continue driving. Then, the water light will come on, and the temperature will drop. I check it again, the bulb has drained.

There is no leak on the ground obvious (no puddle), but there is a small (as in, pinprick) leak on one of the seals. My partner thinks it's the thermostat sticking (hence why it goes up, then sucks all the coolant out and goes back down in temperature), but I'm not sure. ANy advice?

The coolant system may have some air bubbles still in it. Run the engine so the temperature goes up, the radiator starts getting hot (thermostat is opening), and the radiator fan comes on when the radiator fully gets hot. Look at the coolant level, it might go down some. Operating the engine faster than idle usually helps get those air pockets out of the coolant system. I either can install more coolant, at the proper time of removing the rad/bottle cap without losing any or burning my body, or wait until the system cools down and add more coolant then. :-)

BE SAFE!!!

later, dave Reminder........ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. Frieda Norris