Cooling question after t-belt job

[long tall eta]

guys, i got my t belt installed with all new hoses, pump, t stat. she started right up. while adding coolant it seems not to be pumping through the engine. only took about a gallon. the over flow was full and wouldn't go down so i could add more. pulled the new t stat and put it in boiling water and it operates fine. ripped the engine down again and pulled new pump just to double check install and everything fine there too. spins nice and free. all hoses are hooked up correctly using my other car as a schematic. temp gauge rose to the half way mark then i got worried and shut her down.

what would cause her not to take on more coolant? i will finish getting her back together tomorrow and try again.

[3vilE30]

Did you follow proper coolant refill procedure? You have to let the car warmup up to half or enough for the t-stat to open and let it flow into the block and heater core.
Start it
turn the temp dial on the hvac to full hot
put the blower on max
let the car warmup up should take a few for it to reach operating temp
give it a few revs, sometimes you have to hold it at 2-3k for it to get flowing
check if its blowing hot air in the car to make sure the heater core is filled.

When I did my timing belt it wouldn't go down at first I messed with opening and closing the heater core by alternating from cold to hot each time revving it to see if it starting sucking in more coolant.

[long tall eta]

thanks man, rookie mistake. didn't have heater turned on. all is good.