Coolant bleeding question

[edgesr]

Hi All,

I'm having a bit of trouble with the cooling system and bleeding of which I understand is fairly well known. I have had the expansion tank replaced and did a coolant flush at the same time. Ever since, there seems to be air stuck in the system, below is the currant situation.

• When up to temp, I can't seem to get the thermostat to kick in. This has just been replaced and it still doesn't appear to be kicking in.
• Heating works fine, A/C is barely working due to this issue I am assuming
• Bottom radiator pipe doesn't get hot.
• Engine seems to be running hotter than it should, fans don't seem to be kicking in when I would expect them to.

So far, I have removed the expansion tank to get high above the engine, then idled the car up to temp with the cap off. I then shut the car down and squeezed both rad pipes which gurgle. I've also tried getting the car up to temp, then 'burping' the system by opening the cap a tiny bit to let steam/air escape. The bottom rad pipe suddenly gets hot when this happens. I am guessing some air pocket is release and coolant runs through.

 

Can anyone offer any advice on this one? It is the 1.8 TFSI CABA so no bleed screws anywhere. I'm at a bit of a loss. Do I just keep 'burping' the system each time I drive it? I must have done it 10 times now and am still getting a tiny bit of steam out each time.