before install of thermostat open it up and stick a aspirin in there to lodge it open. and fill coolant full.. no need to bleed cooling system. and aspirin just disolves away

What is usually recommended is drilling a tiny hole in the thermostat, which allows the air to burp out.

Sounds like a cool idea, but on most of the cars I work on I don't think it would work. For example, the Bonneville has an O ring around the thermostat that is trapped by the upper and lower housings. I'm pretty sure the asprin wouldn't allow you to bolt down the thermostat housing. On other cars, the stat sits in the housing, and then you place the gasket over the stat. The gasket is trapped between the upper and lower housings. Again, no space to put the aspirin and be able to bolt down the housing.

On the other hand, an aspirin is an effective means of birth control ... when held firmly between the legs.

I think I know what he'* talking about...I ran out to the garage to get my spare thermostats. One is from my Bonneville and one is from my S10 V6. I can do it with the Bonneville t-stat, but its difficult to use a Tums(alas, no aspirin available) because the stat is smaller than the S10 V6 stat. So I used the S10 V6 t-stat in the video I just made...

If a person works on vehicles a lot they might want to invest in a mity vac bleed. Works awesome ,and bought for 135 dollars from Cornwall. Saves me a lot of time. System works by pulling a vacuum on the system and sucks the coolant back into the vehicle.

That is how I did it, I drilled a 3/32" hole I believe it was, and made sure the hole was at the 12 o'clock position when I installed the thermostat.
I still bled with the bleeder screw just in case, and the was hardly any air in the system.

$135 vs a .5cent aspirin. I'll use the aspirin.

Do want you want but if I'm doin a water pump on say a traverse. I'm not goin to pull the thermostat in the process. Unnecessary parts, and labor. Besides without a vac and fill some cooling systems are a pain to bleed. I will use the aspirin for the headaches after work.

That'* what beer is for.

ive never had a problem bleeding a vehicle with just parking it up a little hill or on ramps and running it. no fuss or extra steps needed