I'm sure I should be slapped for this but..

on my 84 I just replaced the timing chain. Everything cranked and ran great today, I'm pretty psyched. Anyways, the cooling system was not operating properly as it passed op. temp and kept climbing, so I shut it down before it got too hot. Can someone pass along some tips on how to get it circulating properly? The top hose did not get very warm like it should have when I ran it this afternoon.

I know this is an 84 truck but, the 22R is the same thats in any other truck and this section is a little more popular

 

T-stat?

 

Burp the radiator after refilling it?

 

You could try removing the thermostat and filling the engine block through the opening, then replace the thermostat. This gets some coolant behind the thermostat and into the engine itself. It may help the thermostat open properly. Good luck.

 

you have some air trapped either in the heater core or the head.

keep rad cap off. turn heater to hot and on full. make sure rad is highest part of truck, you may have to jack the front up. start truck. watch for bubbles and keep rad topped off, keep watching temp gauge. eventually the tstat will open and the rad will overflow constantly. put rad cap back on. check that heater is blowing hot, if it is then you have the air out of it.

if this doesnt help, pull the tstat and try it and see if it fixes it. buy a toy dual stage tstat.