Heater blowing cold, gauge not getting hot?

[NYJets]

Did a radiator flush and thermostat yest, no problems, easier than i thought it would be.

Drive car today, and I CANNOT get my gauge to the hot zone. And the heater (worked perfect previously) does not blow hot air??

Ive been burping the system, used Subaru coolant 50/50 with distilled, and the conditioner. Took about 2 gal, the right amount, and drives and sounds fine.

The gauge sometimes moves up, but then I drive somewhat hard and it goes down?

Still air in system?
What is the actual proper way to burp? Ive been searching and cannot find a clearcut method of doing this. Run the car with the top resivour off? Or run it closed and take it off hot?

EDIT: I believe i have burped it, when i run it with top cap off it does nothing but push coolant out, no bubbles or hissing. But, still no heat...? Heats up normal, but when I hammer on it the gauge goes down. WTF is going on

[oguitar]

You still have air in the system.

This is the way I burp the system. When the car is cold start the car and let it idle. Turn the heater to full heat and the fan on to max heat. Remove the turbo reservoir cap and place a tight fitting funnel in the reservoir. Let the car run for like 30 minutes or until you start seeing the fans kick on and off. Watch the level of coolant in the reservoir now. You should start to see it move. As the fluid gets hotter it will want to expand into the reservoir. Just let it. It should not overflow. This is a little scary but just let it sit in the funnel. When the t-stat opens the fluid should drain back into the system. Now smack on the upper coolant hose and try to get any air out of it. You can do the same on the lower hose. Check the heat in your car it should be nice and hot. Do this procedure for like 15 minutes. When the fluid goes down one more time hurry and replace the cap. Then go for a test drive. Hopefully the temp gauge is steady. If it is you are done. If it is still unstable park the car and let it cool off. Then do it again. In that whole time don't rev the engine just let it idle.

Hope this helps.

[NYJets]

Would this bleed the lines to the heater core too? I got a few opinions and they think there is air in those lines, I was about to take off intercooler and bleed those aswell.

[Donkey]

Yes it will remove all air from the system. The trick is to make sure you do this on level ground where the reservoir will be the highest point. If not the air will never make it out.

[NYJets]

Waiting for the car to cool and finding a funnel, thank you guys very much. Almost had bird thinking about a heater core, just gettin to it let alone buying one

And nice car Donkey, nice to see someone else reppin Polk Audio

[NYJets]

OK, did exactly as you said. Car at idle with cap off and funnel in top blows very hot air. Temp gauge acts fine. Fans kick on and off fine. Wierd thing - top hose is hot and has pressure, bottom hose is cold and no pressure. Drive it around, as soon as I start moving the air goes cold. Temp gauge still fine. Is my tstat stuck? If it was stuck, wouldnt gauge act up and car over heat?

Please help a frustrated and discouraged wrx owner.

Thank you