hammersandwheels

I've got an 88 pickup with a 22r. recently blew the head gasket on a long drive due to a leak in my radiator. I just finished replacing the head gasket and put on a new cyclinder head and radiator. truck seemed to be idling at regular temperature for approximately 30 minutes. after I adjusted the valves I took it on the first drive with the new head and new gaskets and the temperature started creeping up about 3/4 of the thermostat gauge after about 10 minutes of driving so I shut it off and let it cool down before it could get any higher. the radiator was still full, and the oil was still clean too. Anybody have any ideas of why it seems to still be overheating? Prior to blowing the head gasket the temp gauge always sat around 1/3 of the way to the top. neither the water pump or thermostat has been replaced since blowing the head gasket, does that need to happen? thanks for any advice you have

89fourrunner

No, you do not need to replace the water pump, unless the water pump is shot. These can be tricky to bleed. Park the truck on a hill, so the nose is way up in the air. See if the truck needs coolant in this position.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I put a tee in the heater hose makes it simple fill the radiator with the cap off the tee forces the air out

When coolant comes out the tee screw the cap on

Put the radiator cap on.

This is by far the best way I found

Air pockets will cause it to over heat

hammersandwheels

just got home and checked the oil in it again and it looks like theres coolant in there! I just put the new head on and replaced the gaskets so I'm thinking the only other way it could have got in there was via a cracked block.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

I would not suspect the block right away. I see you put on a new head. One of my previous experiences was two water holes not punched out in the head gasket on another car at one time. You would have to ran it quite hard and distance to crack the block in my opinion. I would tear the top end down again and make sure I got everything right. Check for other damage or something you may have missed.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

First did you get all the coolant out of the engine when you changed the gasket the first time??

Unless the block is out of the vehicle almost impossible to get all the coolant out till the next oil change

Did you torque the head bolts to 65 Foot pounds instead of the misprinted 56 Foot Pounds

Coolant level is really down and oil level is way over high.

Head will crack long before the block Now just how hot did things get??

Possible to warp a block you did check with a straight edge it was flat and not warped ??

hammersandwheels

I drained the coolant from the old radiator and from the block via the hole on the back right side. it was only about 3/4 of a gallon of coolant total which is obviously way low, but made sense since it had been leaking from my radiator the whole time. I will change the oil again today and see what I see, I guess it is possible that it is just remnant coolant from when the gasket blew.
I torqued the head bolts to 58ft/lbs as recommended on several threads and in the chiltons manual I have. do they need to be retorqued after the engine heats up perhaps?
I didn't see any signs of cracking or even warping on my old head but I also didn't inspect it super closely since I had a brand new one to use.
when the truck overheated I was doing about 90, but I had just stopped and got gas and used the bathroom in a little town 5 or 10 minutes prior. I looked down and the needle was climbing quickly so I pulled over fast as I could and killed the engine. as I was coming to a stop I believe all the lights stopped working on the dash too as if the car had stalled. when I noticed the needle starting to climb it was about halfway up the temp gauge ( it usually sits around 1/3 of the way up) and by the time I had the engine off it was up in the red.
I let the engine cool off for about an hour and refilled the radiator with a gallon of water I borrowed from some nearby farm houses, plugged the choke with one of my socks and was able to get it started and limped it a couple miles to town taking breaks as needed to keep the engine cool.