I have never used a vacuum bleeder for the coolant and my experience has been hit and miss. Sometimes the manual procedure works fine and other times it doesn't.
When it doesn't, I end up with the temp gauge going to nearly full hot after just a few minutes of driving. I never worry about what the fans are doing because my car doesn't have radiator fans - both have been removed to reduce weight.
Then I let it cool down, refill/top up as needed, and rebleed to the best that I can and then drive it again with the cap on but the bleeder valve open. Usually I get it working normally by the 2nd or 3rd try.
If I still couldn't get the coolant temp to act normally after 3 trys, I'd drain the system and start all over from scratch. Or buy a power bleeder.
