Do I take off the thing bolted to the block or the thong bolted to the thing bolted to the block? In other words the one closest to the block or further?
2) After putting the gallon in... When I stuck a funnel in the radiator I could add fluid and it'd just stay there, but eventually the level would drop. It's possible I was slowly displacing airpockets.
I remember reading that if you overheat turn on the AC....
That makes no sense, turning on the AC will just put more load on the motor. What you should do is
roll the windows down
crank up the ventilation fan
turn on the heat
That will cool the motor by dumping heat into the inside of the car. This only works when the coolant is still present and isn't full of air bubbles - it requires that coolant be able to move into the heater core. So if you blow your radiator or the head gasket, or a hose bursts, do not do this, instead pull over immediately and shut down. Otherwise, the heater trick can keep a car from overheating while going up a long hill on a hot day. The driver may have a heat stroke, but that is a separate issue!
Actually you are better off to turn the temp dial to the MAX HEAT, and then turn the A/C ON....
It depends why you are overheating.
Absolutely! If the belt which drives the water pump has broken then the coolant circulation will stop, none of these tricks will help cool the motor at all, and the only safe thing to do is to immediately pull over and turn off the car.
if your "water pump belt" is broken on your Protege, you are already DOA.