about a month ago my head and valves where smoothed and polished and a new headgasket set was put on,( head had a crack) it tries to over heat but when the thermostat opens and the fan kicks on it will go down, its dinged on me 3 times. so I did some checking still has heat, no milky oil, no anitfreeze smell, no white smoke, as well as no smell of anifreeze smell from it either, no smell of it under the hood either, then it hit me thermostat, so I started the car up and drove it around for a while and the temp climbed high, so I pulled into a lot and felt the radiator hose and low and behold the valve cover was at operating temp but the hose was cold, In conclusion my therostat keeps sticking. I know howellautomotive sells some lower temp thermostats but does anyone else know if anyone else sells them as well

 

A lower temp thermostat isn't going to help. The PCM turns on the fans to keep the engine in an operating band of ~200-225F. The stock thermostat is open the entire time. Getting a lower temp thermostat means the thermostat will still be open while the PCM is in control, and it will take longer for your car to get up to operating temperature. Stick with a stock unit.

You might also consider that your radiator is fouled enough to restrict flow, so the temperature range is overshooting. I've gone through 3 stock copper core radiators. My current one is an aluminum core from coolradiator.com and cost less (shipped) than a new copper core... Couldn't be happier with it.

You should also keep in mind that the coolant temp sensor is a two-part deal. The more accurate signal goes to the PCM, which is how it decides when to turn the fans on (~225F) and off (~200F). The signal that goes to your instrument cluster isn't much more than a glorified idiot light. If you really want to know what's going on with the temperatures, use a scan tool while the car is running.

Don't be too quick to rule out a leak though... Took me a few months to track my last one down, tiny gap where the end bell gets attached to the core...

Best of luck!

 

Thanks Radar Ill keep all that in mind and when its ok out I will take a look around, hopefully its not the radiator that thing is new one. had it replaced when the gasket job was done, really hoping its not a leak man that would suck in that case id have to take it back again let them do it over wont pay for it though seeing how ive told them about the problem. kinda there obligation to but thanks for the advice I won't go with the thermostat I was in some debate about that. well I have some checking to do now thanks a lot