Alright, so I was refilling the coolant and I could only get about 3 gallons mix into the car, it would just not take it all, bleeder valves we properly opened as well, I left a coolant bleeder open the first time I started and it made the light come on, again, refilled to max, but the light is still on, anyway I could resolve this issue? I tried running it and then refilling, is the container on the passenger side only that say coolant only car or whatever the over flow I'm suppose to put coolant in to fill in air gaps? Also, what would be a good way to tidy up the engine bay without having to worry about the opti?

 

Cooling system holds 15.3 quarts with manual trans, 15.1 with an automatic. When you drained the system, did you drain the block by removing the knock sensor on the passenger side and the drain plug an the driver's side of the block?

What light came on and is still on?

You fill the radiator directly, to the fill neck. Bleed the system, then refill to the top of the radiator fill neck. The reservoir should be filled between the full and low lines, and will only flow into the radiator to fill a void when the system cools down, and the the coolant contracts, creating a vacuum to pull the coolant back into the radiator from the reservoir. If the rubber hose is cracked, or the metal pipe under the battery is corroded through, the radiator vacuum can not pull the coolant back in. But that's not the issue on the initial fill.

Courtesy of Shoebox:

4th Gen LT1 F-body Tech Articles

 

I saw the reacquired coolant on his website, that;s why I was worried. And I didnt pull it because I figured it wouldve came out when I changed the water pump. And the light I was talking about was the Coolant level light, even though it's not getting hot and the reservoir reads the coolant right, when it's cold it on cold, it's just not wanting to hold anymore.

 

Removing the water pump drains only part of the coolant. Everything below the water pump level in the block and radiator is still in there. To remove all the coolant you need to open the drain at the bottom of the radiator and remove the knock sensor and plug at the bottom of the block. I'm surprised you got anywhere near 3 gallons into the system.

You don't need to do that to pull the Opti, but you should drain the system down below the water pump, to avoid spilling coolant on the Opti. I realize yours was dead, and couldn't be damaged by coolant, by why make a mess when you can drain the coolant into a bucket and reuse it if it's not old.

Looking at the dipstick in the reservoir only tells you there is coolant in the reservoir. Doesn't tell you if the radiator is full. Only way to know the radiator is full is to open the cap up when it's cold. If it isn't up to the rim of the fill neck cold, it's not full. The coolant level switch is on the passenger side radiator end cap, and it's telling you the radiator isn't full.... doesn't matter if the reservoir is full. Or, you may have a faulty level sensor... they aren't very reliable.

Stop checking the reservoir, start checking the radiator.