Just for chits and grinns take the radiator cap off it cold and start the car
The coolant should be just sitting there in the radiator if you look
If it is swirling or circulating your thermostat is open when it should not be
If it comes shooting out of the radiator like Old Faithful you got trouble (head gaskets)
Good luck
How big of a geyser is bothersome? I know when burping the system the level does go up and down some, and under higher rpm it did burp out a good bit but it looked more like boiling water, although there was some small geyser like action, nothing shooting up high though. Only an inch or 2 it was spilling over, but this seems to line up with other videos I've seen where they put the funnel on top to burp. When I start the car with the cap off everything is fine. Only after a little the pressure starts to rise and I see some bubbles working their way out, and then if I stop the car after running it for 15 to 20 mins the level goes down and I have to top it off.
I am worried about the head gasket thing, although my oil is perfectly clean, my coolant isn't showing contamination of oil (even though it does look like pea soup, it also looks like the 100k mile coolant or the orange coolant that has gone bad for too many years. If I leave the coolant in the drain pan there is no oil separation or shimmer. I'm hoping it's just way too much sludge built up. Looking at the top of the intake manifold I did notice a small gap on the middle section. I took 2 pics to try and get a close up of the gap. I'm hoping it's just a little warped at the edge and the seal inside is still good. (Pics are at the bottom).
Flushing the system with water is also takin forever. It seems that every time I run the car and drain it's just as murky, which has me wondering if there is some gas contamination. I don't want to buy a tester kit just yet because atm I'm broke and I got just enough to fix this doing the work myself then I need to find work again with hopefully reliable transportation. I'm also convinced it could be just sludge working it's way out. Sometimes when I look into the coolant reservoir I can see the sludge come out like a snake from the bottom before it mixes with the water and becomes murky. Not every time though.
I wanted to do water flushes until it ran 95% clear, and then I wanted to do a cleaner, but these flushes are taking forever I'm thinking I need to put a heavier cleaner in it now, but don't want to waste my money on the cleaner unnecessarily either. I've heard mixed reviews about using some vinegar. I would probably just put a couple cups in to play it safe, drive it for 20 mins then drain, then continue back to water flushes. Any advice? Is it time for a prestone cleaner to run in it for a bit?