In my ongoing quest to look like an utter moron, Could someone tell me if I need to bleed the cooling system in a gsl-se?

 

first time for everything man, dont worry about it.

any car you need to bleed the cooling system. some people just fill it up and let it roll. what you get is air pockets in the system, usually the heater core. this can cause anything from no heat inside the car, to overheating the engine.

just fill it up to the top, turn the car on and let it run for a little bit. every now and then the level will drop. keep it topped off, and wait till air bubbles stop coming up, then put the cap on. my rule of thumb is make sure both coolant hoses coming off the engine to the radiator are hot (make sure the thermostat is opened up).

napa sells a funnel that has universal attachments to fit any car. this is great as it keepts the level of antifreeze higher than any other coolant points in the car, so air will make its way there. we use those at work all the time and they work very well.

good luck.