Unsung

1983 22r

I've replaced the thermostat, water pump, fan clutch, and coolant (burped it too). It's not losing coolant, there's no oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil. It will sit on 190-195 all day long idling, but as soon as I go down the road it just gets hotter and hotter. I warm it up to 195, and 2 miles down the road I'm sitting on 210+. If it's running hot and I spray the radiator with the hose, it starts cooling off fast. Brand new Sunpro mechanical temperature gauge plugged in from the passenger side into the intake beneath the thermostat.

What's everyone's theory on my overheating problems? Could it still be the head gasket? Do you think I should buy a radiator? Or is there something else I'm not looking at?

I found a 1990 V6 toyota radiator, $139.99 at O'Reilly's with a lifetime warranty. Mounts the same, cools more. If I can't come up with something else to check, I'm going to buy one and PRAY that fixes it.

j2the-e

Sounds like a coolant flow problem. Possibly radiator like you said. You can check for blockage by using a metal blade from an old wiper blade. Pull the cap off, and the thin metal blade should slide into the core unobstructed. Its not a 100% accurate test, but it can give you an idea.

Unsung

I've got an '85 with a bad motor, decided to yank the radiator off it and swap and see how it did. While draining the radiator I noticed the new water pump dripping ever so slowly. I tried to tighten the 12mm bolt in the middle passenger side of it but it just spins, and the bolt above that had twisted off (but I figured the 12mm right beneath it would keep it from leaking. So now, I have to pull that water pump back off and either replace the piece behind it (whatever that's called), or tap the 12mm hole and hope it doesn't leak. This truck is starting to become a pain.