Thermostat problem again

[PickUpGirl787]

Ok I know I have killed this issue and my truck, but something just isnt right. It finally got cold out here in Chicago and I dont have heat because I have been running the truck without a Tstat, so I went and bought one and put it in today. I tested it out and it heated up so fast not even two minutes before it was in the red, does anyone know why it does this? When I didnt have it in and its been chilly the thing wont make it up to 210 until about a half hour of driving. Anything would help

[mrjohnwayne]

not picking on you but did you put it in upside down?

[PickUpGirl787]

no haha, i checked that funny though I did that once

[mrjohnwayne]

have you checked or replaced the waterpump? how about the radiator cap also? if it is not releasing to the overflow it could cause it to overheat.

[Sed8ed]

with the rad cap off and as it runs do you see the coolant flowing in the rad?????

[Sed8ed]

also whats your ratio of water to coolant use a coolant meter and whats the coolant good till should be -45...As you know if to much water and not enough coolant it will cause a prob!!! when running no T-stat was the level up in the rad when you went to put T-stat in??? Not trying to be mister know it all just helping out as best as I can....

[joeydeherrera54]

maybe you just got a bad tstat i have had that problem a few time i buy a new one and it doesnt work from what i hear they get stuck alot even new so maybe you should check that

[PickUpGirl787]

this is my third one and I am putting 1/2 water 1/2 coolant in...

[75K30]

Ashley, I stille think you have a flow problem. How confident are you that the pump is working well, and how confident are you that the radiator has adequate flow?
You can easily verify the operation of the t-stat by using a pot of water and a thermometer. PLace the t-stat in the water and turn up the heat while watching the thermometer. You will see it open slowly, and it should reach its limit, and will be wide open when the temp is eached. Verify with the thermometer, and watch it close as it cools. If it shows any sign of sticking, you can replace the t-stat.
I really doubt this is the problem. I believe that you have poor circulation. Either the pump is not moving water well enough, or the radiator is not allowing the water to move.
You problem with the truck not heating up with the t-stat removed was common. Since the water moved around so much, it could not develop enough heat to warm up. This is the job of the t-stat. It stays closed until you reach a desired temp. This means that water is allowed to arm up in the block until the operating temp is reached, and once the temp is reached, it opens allowing the cooler water to enter, the hot water gets moved to the radiator where it will exchange heat with the ambient air. This process continues until the engine is turned off, or something fails.
Removing the t-stat results in an engine that takes forever to wrm up, and usually overheats because the water does not spend enough time in the radiator to exchange heat properly. Short trips might be alright, but longer trips usually result with problems.

Do you have access to a non contact thermometer? This is an infrared (looks like a lazer) thermometer. You can point the beam at different parts of the radiator to see which of the rows have more or less heat. I would imagine that you have a few passages that are blocked, and would show up as cool spots with this style thermometer. Those cool spots would indicate areas that the water can't cool and the result is an engine that gets hot.
Kinda like trying to use a very small radiator.
Sorry that was long.

[Sed8ed]

with the T-Stat in with the rad cap off start it up and let it run to opperating temp and look to see for coolant flow and is it trickle flow or is it mad gushing flow or close to it BUT it has to be at operating temp to determine this if you have flow then not the waterpump and not the T-Stat but if little or no flow then YES i would look at water pump, T-Stat and maybe rad is pooched or a clog in the heatercore or at least restrictive so once you put the working T-Stat in there isnt enough flow to do the job...