I just bought a 1985 toyota pickup with 106k miles. Driving along the road one day it decided to overheat. Upon buying the truck, the previous owner told me it would need a new radiator soon because it was not circulating correctly.



I replaced:

*radiator
*waterpump
*thermostat - (failsafe) - the truck did not have one before
*new antifreeze
*all new belts
I dont know if this information helps :

*The truck takes longer time to overheat during colder weather
*Sometimes when the truck stops the temp gauge will drop to half
*If I turn the heater on little or not hot air comes out
*Truck will overheat while idling
*Headgasket is okay, because after draining, there are no signs of mixing, no white smoke out the tailpipe.
*The fan clutch is good because there is resistance trying to spin it

I am lost with this one, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

 

What do your spark plugs look like? does it use water even if it doesn't blow it out? Your head gasket could be leaking, doesn't mean your fluids would mix all the time. got a fan shrowd? doesn't act like you have an air pocket because your heater is warm. u might put a manual guage in to know exactly where your running.

 

It sounds like you need a good flushing. It is hard to clean the crap people put in the system to block leaks. Hope you have a shroud it is a must. I have extra electric fans on my wheeler to keep the motor cool at a idle.

 

Yep, I have a shroud in place. Is there a certain process in order to flush the system? The heater doesn't blow any hot air, or when I turn it on, the temp gauge does not drop. It uses no water from what I can tell.

 

if your heater is cool usually you got an airpocket. i dunno i have manually filled the heater core before. Maybe your heater core is shot.

 

When you say cool, how long into the truck overheating should it blow hot air? Should I burb the cooling system now?I have done a search about it, if the truck shoots out a "geyser" does that mean there was an air pocket? I appreciate all of your replies.

 

usually geyser means way toooo hot. :o) Yes flush system. did you check the thermostat by any chance? or install it facing the right direction?

 

well it should blow warm air about 10 minutes after starting. then if it goes cold usually you need water.

 

Ok thanks, I am gonna try the burbing process, and pay attention to the heater. If the truck will start overheating before those 10min, it should blow hot air in before that time right? The thermostat is facing spring down, but I am probably going to just take it out. Thanks for all the insight cutboggers!

 

My friend had a truck that ran 250 degrees for weeks. finally it blew. He tried everything I think it had a clogged water port or sumthin.