Sometimes overheating right away and sometimes not is different. Is that under load? Is it dependent upon the outside temp? Is city driving different from highway driving?

I'm thinking rad cap, radiator, or head gasket.

 

thats true...a new radiator is my next step. the place that fixed my radiator charged me 45 dollars to fix and clean it...i tried getting my money back but the boss said no and theres no way around it i guess...they did however say they would install the new one if i got one so i guess thats a plus. a junk yard wants 80 for a used one but that seems a bit pricy to me...

 

And a junk yard one will be in the same or worse condition. I'm pretty sure you can get a new one for around $160. Pay that now or pay for a new motor when the JY one blows up.

 

i'm going to borrow my friend's truck and take his radiator out and put it in mine and see if it works. He has the same truck. If it makes a difference, i'll know its the radiator, if not i'll know its not the radiator.

 

If I was your friend I'd tell you to go to hell! LOL Now you got 2 trucks to try and burp properly, not to mention if you start moving crap around inside his cooling system you might clog something up,and he'll have this prob with his too. And who's he going to blame? Screw that, this isn't a relay or fuse.

 

Or, you could spend the $16 and get a new cap, I would bet that it will fix it. Unless this friend is a complete and total idiot he will prolly tell you to f-off. Last I checked (about 3 months ago) a new radiator from autozone is $200.

 

I just priced these found a nice new one for $160.

 

**** is cheaper every where than it is in California. I was also accounting in tax.

 

Actually bout the same autozone was $250 here, oreilly's was $160, $173 with tax.

 

Now i feel bad for y'all. I found a shop that sold 'em brand new for 95 bucks plus tax!!! i picked one up and put it in! still no t-stat in it right now so i dunno if its working or not. I'll put the t-stat back in in the morning and we'll see if it makes a difference. hopefully this was the problem. W/O the thermostat when i'm driving around in the city now the temp stays around 147 (i have a dashdaq guage that shows exact temp) then when its idling at a red light it will jump up to 220....however if i step on the gas when its in park the temp goes down....