Hello fellow yota fans
I have a unique situation with my Toyota T100 SR5 3.4 5vz-fe. It started about 2 weeks ago. I was driving down the I-75 freeway and all of a sudden I see steem coming from under the hood. I had blown a hole in the top tank of the radiator and after taking a closer look at the thing, I realized that someone else had already made a repair to the tank prior to my purchase of the truck. I filled the radiator back up with water and tried to get the last 15 miles of my trip. Needless to say I didn't make it far and had to leave the truck at a truck stop. I put a new radiator in the next morning and ran it for a while to be sure that it was okay. I did change the oil before running it but it got hot again and I went to the thermostat. Bought a new one from O'Reilly auto parts. It was defective but I, (like a dummy didn't test it). I trailered it home and ordered a new water pump kit with the complete timing set. I changed it all and it still ran hot as hell. Defective thermostat. (Tested it this time). Returned to the store and exchanged for a new one. 180° supposedly. Tested it and it opened at 200°. I filled it with water and ran it without the thermostat and it had no issue. Put the new thermostat in and it overheated again. Anyone else ever have this problem? If so, what was the solution?
Any ideas or help will be greatly appreciated. I miss and need my truck. Help if you can please.
Thank you very much in advance for any help you can give.
Fellow Yota lover!!

 

could be vapor lock, if your new thermostat has the jiggle valve it will help to work the air out from behind the t-stat. if not you can drill a 1/8 inch hole in the thermostat near the outer edge and make sure it's at 12 o'clock when you install it. (5vz is mounted vertically right?)