OK just replaced the head on my 91 jetta TD. All seemed to go well except for the timing, had that a little to far advanced and man did it ever have a loud diesel ping, backed off the timing some and all was quiet.
Now the other issue. I filled the coolant system back up by filling up the radiator till it came out the hose to the front of the block and then filled the block up through the front of the head, put that hose back on and fillted the coolant tank to make. Let it set some and all seemed well. Cranked it back up and let it get to operating temp. All seemed well. I then shut down and retorqed the head. That was day one. Now I went out and checked it all and the coolant tank was low so I put more in. Started it up and it seemed fine. Took it out and it ran great but noticed it was running a little warmer than normal, basically just past half where it would run right on the middle mark. Then it started getting warmer and before it made it to the 3/4 line I shut it down. I did notice that the fans didn't come on like normal, but if I turned the AC on the fans came on. Funny how I didn't even mess with that area in the radiator for the temp switch that now it doesn't work. Any suggestions as to how to burp the air out of the system? I followed the Bentley and it just says to fill coolant tank to max, run and fill accordingly.
Sounds like the thermostat hasnt opened yet, hence no flow to radiator...
Is the bottom hose hot?
Top up the bottle again, don't put the cap on. Start the motor, squeeze all the coolant hoses especially the heater hoses at the firewall, they are almost as high as the bottle so there will be an air pocket there. keep squeezing and reving the motor until you feel heat at both heater hoses. once warm check in the car if you have heat at the defrost or vents.turn off the heater fan ,keep checking for heat at all the hoses until the thermstat opens. once the thermostat opens, close the cap. Both rad hoses should then get the same temp. after a few more minutes, the fan should come on. If not check to see if the full surface of the rad is hot.