The temp gauge shows hot, no heat in car, engine doesn't feel hot. no fluid loss

I didn't realize there was 2 bleeder valves, I located them and there was a lot of bubbles coming out of both of them....It seems fine now...temp gauge does not waver hardly at all..I am hoping this did the trick. There is no discoloration in the coolant or oil and the car seems to run fairly well for a '96, and the Motor would not feel hot touching it with bare hand when that temp gauge would elevate extremely high, I figured a temp this high things under the hood would be smoking hot, but not the case. The Water Pump went out and we had it changed a couple of months ago, there was a lot of growling in the steering after this fix, it finally worked out...maybe when the water pump went(while I was driving 60 mph pulled over just as soon as the temp gauge started elevate then had it towed) some air got in at that time and no white smoke as I checked often after this started...Thanks so much for you time...I really appreciate this.