Archon,
Thanks again for the help. The pocket makes sense- I was getting bubbles in the overflow tank, and I noticed after I shut off the car, a bunch of coolant disappeared. This makes sense since the system holds 1.25 gallons and I had only put in about 1/2 a gallon at the time- which I thought was strange. I topped it off again (1 gallon total) and it was a little high- but after I ran and shut off the engine again, it sucked down a bunch more and now seems to be just sligthly low (probably the last 1/4 gallon). I should have followed the procedure you linked to.

As for the fans- I'm just baffled. I have never really paid much attention to them, so I don't know when they do or don't run. If they don't turn on until about 215- then they must not turn on much. My normal operating temperature is between 195-200. The temp the first time I ran it got up to about 210- but this could be because of low coolant. Since I've topped it up it is below 200 constantly- I've let it idle for quite some time and I just took it out for about a 5 mile spin going up to 50 MPH. The guage never changed. The fans also never came on at all.

I checked the fuses and they are fine. Should the fans be turning on after I shut off the car or when I turn it on at all? I just want to be sure they're working....

Thanks again for all the help!

The fans will not turn on when you first start the car, nor after you shut it off. The temperature gauges are quite inaccurate, too. With normal driving, in particular at 50 MPH, they may not come on. Try doing your normal driving, get the engine up to normal operating temperature, and then let it sit and idle for a while. They should come on at least on low speed then. Once your A/C is up and running, they should come on when you turn that on.

If you want a lower temperature for the fans to kick on, and for them to run for a short time after shutting off the car, you'll need an after-market PCM, or yours reprogrammed, like Intense offers.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the help. I have everything about back together and the car is now driveable- just no A/C.

I am getting an air compressor for the house that I am working on today. I also ordered a vacuum pump that came in last night. If I have time this weekend I am going to flush the system, vacuum it, and refill the coolant.

Again, I couldnt' have done it without your help. Thank you very much.

The beauty of this forum is it works great because of the members sharing and helping.

We have seen many cases where a call came in for help near members and that was posted and responded to in near record time. IIRC most cases the members beat AAA to the scene.