My water pump has been seeping on and off for the last 10,000 miles. It has 170k on it so whatever its lived its life ill change it this spring.
As far as bleeding goes I kinda found a method that works for me. Assuming an empty system I take the rad cap off and the thermostat housing off. Then I dump coolant mix into either the rad or the thermostat hole until coolant fills the thermostat hole. Then I reinstall the thermostat housing and fill the radiator neck. I start it and usually it will just idle up to thermostat temp. There will be a big burp. I will top it off. Ill wait for it to burp again. Top it off. Then I put the cap on and fill the res and go for a 10 min drive. The next day (Or next time I drive it from a cold stop) I will go for a spirited drive and check the res afterwards. Usually its dropped down to half full and I leave it there. No more overheating / boiling coolant trying to get the thermostat to open up. It just works. I have done it at least 30 times on various 3800s and never had an issue other then the time that I had the fans unhooked and it boiled over while I was waiting for it to burp. Ooooops.
