Just sounds like the fan switch is not kicking in. If you are briging the terminals and teh fans are coming on then obviously its either the switch or the cars not getting hot enough, which if left to sit and tick over I doubt very much.

What would worry me most is bubbles in the header tank. If the sytem is under pressure, ie. you havnt realeased the header cap then its either a coolant system leak or the head gasket is fucked (which is technically the same thing).