Thermostat glitch

[valleyman]

Something is amiss with the thermostat installation I did with the stat I got from Reinhart. After driving about a mile the temp guage started to head for HOT so I headed back to the driveway.
I checked under the hood right away. Of the three hoses that come out of "T" where the thermostat housing is the two that go up to the engine are hot but the lower one that runs across the bottom of the radiator housing is cold. The fan is working fine. I banged on the thermostat housing a couple of times with a big pry bar in case the stat was just a little reluctant to start working but nothing changed: still got two hoses with hot coolant and one with no coolant or cold coolant in it.
Either I've got a bum themostat or I installed it wrong. When I did the install I put the new one in the same way the old one came out and re-used the rubber O ring (it went toward the bottom). When I installed it I just undid the two bolts on the stat housing and didn't undo any of the original hose clamps. I just twisted the lower hose and pulled down to gain acces to the thermostat. As soon as things cool down a bit I'll take it off, take out the stat, compress the spring a few times, and reinstall. Anybody got any other ideas?
Also, how does that petcock work on the bottom of the radiator? I got about two gallons of coolant in the face when I opened the housing and I really don't want to repeat that. Do you just loosen that plastic nut or take it off completely or what? Never dealt with a radiator before as is probably obvious. Any help/ideas appreciated.

[sailsmen]

You may need to bleed it from the black metal pipe that goes transverse on the topside near the alternator there is a round section that is a cap.

Refill and bleed from here, use a 1/4 drive to unscrew it.

[valleyman]

sailsmen - I need a little help here. I found in the shop manual what I think you're talking about, they call it "Filling _ Bleeding" and say to "Disconnect the heater core coolant supply hose" and then add coolant to the bleed plug you described. Which one is the "heater core coolant supply hose?"

[RF Overlord]

^^^what sailsmen said^^^

The proper procedure for bleeding the cooling system starts on page 191 of the owner's manual. There is no need to remove any hoses...just the round metal cap.

[valleyman]

Hooray! Hooray! Problem solved. (WHY that solved it, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe someone with time on their hands and knowledge in their head can obviate my ignorance) Thanks, sailsmen & Overlord. Is this a great site or what?

[Dr Caleb]

You had an air bubble in the line leading up to the thermostat. The air wasn't hot enough to open the thermostat, therefore your engine temp climbed. As well, you most likely had some air in your engine, rather than coolant.

Seems to be the norm for non-pressureised systems like ours. Happens all the time with my Crown Vic, but it doesn't have the fill tube that the Marauder does...

[valleyman]

Makes sense. I think I just felt a little piece of my ignorance fall off. Thanks