If steam comes out the bleeder, you are still bleeding air. Leave the bleeder open until it streams coolant.
I honestly suspect my elbow blew out because I did not properly bleed my car this year after the HVAC stuff I did. I was in a hurry. By having air in the system, I think that expanded more then the coolant and caused a pressure the car normally does not have and the elbow was the weakest link.

 

Open bleeder on t-stat, fill radiator up until coolant comes out of bleeder, close bleeder and no not re-open, start engine with heater off and rad cap OFF, run engine until cooling fans come on (could take 30 mins or more), shut engine off and let sit for 30 mins, refill radiator and overflow, you're done.


This is how I do every 3.8 in the shop. Its not uncommon to get air trapped somewhere. Fans come on at ~221 which assures that the t-stat is fully open and air is flushed out. Beware that if you coolant mix is not correct, it could boil before the fans come on.

Also, the guage is not accurate at all. It is programmed to show what people think it should read. On my car the center hash is ~200, line below center is 185, and line above hash is 205-225. It does not move in a linear fashion.

 

Thanks guys, I think at first yesterday I had the wrong mixture of coolant/water in there. I drained some out last night and put in more water. Do you guys use exactly 50/50 mix? is more water better?

Anyways I bled it again this morning when it was cold. Opened bleeder, took off radiator cap and started it. A flow of coolant came right out so i closed it and put the cap back on. So I'm guessing that's good.

 

I run a 60/40 mix weighted toward coolant.