New to the forum and used the how-to guide for replacing the water pump on my 07 Camry LE with the 2.4 engine. Everything went fairly smoothly and got everything put back together. Put in coolant and started it up. Doesn't appear to leak, but the thermostat started to rise but there was no heat coming out and neither of the hoses felt warm. The idle also slowed at this point and I was concerned, so shut it off. Did I do something wrong or is there another way to know for sure if the coolant is circulating? TIA for any help.
It will take around 20-30 minutes of burping to properly bleed a cooling system and get the heat circulating.
Couple of pointers.
1. Put the heat on full blast
2. Get yourself a reservoir that fits directly on the radiator cap. Like this one
Lisle 24610 Spill-Free Funnel. 20 bucks on Amazon
With that you put it in place like a normal radiator cap, stick te bottle on and fill the bottle. It will burp itself and you won't have to continuously add and fill coolant. It also allows you to plug it, remove the reservoir, replace the cap, and then fill the coolant reservoir in the car, all with no spills.
3. Be patient. It's ok for the idle to be off of you unplugged the battery.
...or simply push on top and bottom hoses and you will see the coolant level in the radiator go down. Start the car with the radiator cap off and wait for the engine to warm up: the cooling fan will come on.