i put in a new thermostat and reconnected the heater core it was bybassed to see if i had a blend door issue for the a/c not getting cold
now the temp gauge wont come up it hovers just above 130 degrees and the heat only gets luke warm at best now
any ideas would be greatly appriecited
thank you

 

sounds to me like your t-stat is stuck open, if you take it out you can dunk it in some water to see if it cycles correctly, or opens up too soon

 

but when i let the truck run with the radiator cap off i never see the water move

 

if your pump was failing it would most likely be leaking a little at the pulley, but the truck would DEFINITELY be overheating, in theory the coolant shouldnt move at that cap until the truck is warmed up to temperature and the t-stat opens up allowing it to flow. however the system also wont work correctly, part of what makes the system work is the pressure that builds up in there, it increases the boiling point of the coolant which makes it hold more heat. how the other possibility is that the temp sensor is bad and reading incorrectly. I would drive the truck for a bit to the point where it would normally be warmed up, then feel the hoses on both sides of the radiator and see if they are both warm, if so you have flow (you could also check both sides of the heater core, if you have flow your pump is fine). Next i would use a radiant (infrared) non-contact thermometer to check the temp of the hoses going to the radiator if it doesnt agree with what the temp gauge says you have a bad sensor.

 

Temp the upper radiator hose and see if it is up to temp. If it is then you have a heater core blockage.

 

Hydra gave good advice. I had normal temp on my gauge but the heater was only luke warm. I disconnected the two heater hoses and flushed the heater core out (it was bad) then hooked it all back up and flushed the whole system for about 20 minutes. Drained all water I could then added 1½ gallons of anti-freeze as there was about a gallon in the engine from the flush and all is well. I even sweat in my truck now.

 

Your welcome......LOL