I just started doing today. It's always done the weird thing where it goes into the red (on the gauge) and then settles back down to normal. Now it will climb into the red and stay there until I let off the gas then it will slowly come down to normal and I can keep it there. But if I "put my foot in it" a little, it climbs right back towards the red. Now I know I have a whole in my radiator somewhere, I don't know how big or where it is. I was thinking of replacing the rad. and the t-stat. I know (from searching) to check the lower rad. hose and the for bubbling thing. Anything else I should check?

 

sounds like you are on the right track.

Something to try, is remove the thermostat, and see how the truck runs without it. If it doesn't overheat, you can pretty well assume its the thermostat, or the radiator causing a problem.

 

I've had a similar problem with my 3.0, replaced the tstat (along with waterpump and tbelt) and that fixed the problem. This should be MUCH easier to do on a 22re than a 3vze though.

Oh, and to check your radiator, take the fan off so you can run the truck with out it. let the truck get to operating temperature, and take an infared thermometer and point it at different areas of the radiator, if you find a noticably cooler section, you've got a bad radiator. You can also use your hand if you don't have a thermometer, but its not quite as effective.
Since you said you've got a hole in your radiator, just replace it.

 

All right I just ran my truck to see if there are bubbles the cool was I reved the motor. No bubbles, good sign right?
I went for a little drive (like 2mi) and on the way back I wound out 1st and 2nd, the temp jumped right up almost into the red. When I let off the temp slowly settled back normal. My driveway was a little slick so the revs were kinda high(damn ice), again the temp jumped right up. I parked it, left it running and checked the rad. hoses. They were a little warm at best. I took the rad cap off to again check for bubbles and again no bubbles. The coolant was seaming, but yet the rad hoses weren't hot
So what's the deal here?

 

assuming the coolant is circulating (must be else it wouldn't cool quickly when you release the throttle) I'd guess the thermostat is stuck partially open.
Have you checked it yet?

 

No not yet, but I am going to get a new one. and A new rad is on the way.
So what t-stat should I get, 180 or 192?

 

Another quick question:
Can I take the t-stat housing off without dropping coolant all over the place?

 

If you are going to replace your radiator as well, you might as well just drain all your coolant out. Besides, you probably dont want to use your old coolant in a new radiator... just my opinion. As far as which t-stat to get... I would go for the hotter of the two. I'm not sure how toyotas closed loop works, but if you go too cold with the t-stat you may not allow your engine to go into closed loop and your mileage is going to suck. Also, have you checked your fan clutch to see if it is going out?

 

How do you check the fan clutch?
Sorry, I'm still kind of a noob.

 

Does your radiator gets hot? I'm thinking that the thermostat is stuck closed and only lettng a small amount of water through the little hole.

 

If you run hot around town and cool on the highway, then your fan clutch is suspect assuming all other parts are in good working condition. Obviously radiator, thermostat and coolant replacement should have been done yesterday.

So, get on with the program before you need to add a head gasket to the work list.

My $0.02

 

I'm pretty sure the rad is getting, the coolant inside seemed pretty freaking hot.

 

I haven't done any of the work yet because I don't have all my parts.
The truck is sitting in the driveway not being driven in order to not blow the HG. As soon I saw the temp gauge in the red I pulled over and let it cool down then limped home. I may be a noob, but I have common sense.

 

It's not hard to take out the thermostat and just fill it up with water again.
See if you still over heat.