So I changed the water pump and flushed the whole cooling system. Was wanting to overheat. Took thermostat out and boiled it in hot water. Checked out ok. I noticed the head was empty. So I filled it threw the thermostat hole in the head. And it worked. So. Steam will not open a thermostat. It has to be submerged in coolant. Fill the block and head up without the thermostat in. Save yourself the hassle.

 

never had that proublem but we did have a slight over heating issue..but it turned out to be the radiator was bad...you can flush them out all you want and still wont get the vains uncloged..put in a new one and proublem solved..

 

Interesting. I'm currently battling an overheating issue on our 2003 SXT. First fix was to replace the thermostat - made no difference. Will make sure the block is full of coolant and try again.

Next step was to replace the water pump, but I'd really like to rule out everything else. Could anyone tell me how to determine whether the problem is the water pump, the radiator, or something else? I went for the cheap & easy thermostat first, but didn't get that lucky.

Thanks,
Steve

 

take your themostat out..then leave the cap off while your car is running..if you see your water moving pretty good its not your water pump..how many miles are on your car?..

 

This one is getting up towards 89k miles.

Taking out the thermostat, I'm seeing more of "disturbance" rather than real flow. Could that also be from a radiator clog?

It had been sitting for a couple weeks before it started overheating. Kinda wonder if gunk may have settled in the radiator causing a clog.

Anyway - hope to dig into it this weekend. Thanks for the insight. Let me know if you have any other thoughts.

Steve

 

Flush the radiator with a garden hose. Take out the drain clock valve first. Remove top radiator hose and insert hose there. If you have heat in the car that means the water pump is strong enough to cycle coolant through th heater care. Sometimes low coolant in the block will not give u heat. Yes a radiator can get blocked up from sediment sitting in it for periods at a time.

 

Also to note. The thermostats jiggle valve must be at the 1 o'clock posision. Meaning not straight up but a little to the right. Like a time clock.