Just when you think you got it figured out. Told ya'll I fixed the distributor and it ran awsome and ran around 190 in temp. Well i was working on it tonight and got my DVD player and and I have been trying for a month now to get these aftermarket headlights calibrated so I am not blinding everyone and shooting beams off into the trees. No luck there but I noticed that my temp was running 209-212 which is high since it had been running low and the fact it was 34 degrees outside.

Long story short I noticed I had the defroster on low heat since it was cold and said I wonder if that could be part of the problem so I cranked the heat all the way and put it on high and at idle it was running 225 before I knew it.

Does this sound like a heater core problem? Only thing I can think of but to be honest I don't know the purpose of it.................

If it is I think I spent about 2 weeks and a couple hundred dollars replacing other things. Now I will say it was running hot with the heat off before so I definetly improved it with other mods but I think I may have stumbled on to the real issue also new parts are never a "bad" thing.

Also if it is the heater core any idea what that will cost to replace. I know the part is like $50 but they have to drain coolant and the A/C system so I can't do it just wondering if anyone had any estimates?

 

You have to figger that if you take it some where, labour is around $75 to $100 an hour and some places won't let you provide your own parts (voids their warranties) call around to different shops and ask them what the price is for PARTS and LABOUR, then ask if you can provide your own parts, then ask for the old ones back, but mark it in a way that you know it was yours, as some places have been known to say they did the work but not do crap (pep-boys).

If the shop provides the parts look at spending another 20 or 30 dollars per parts then if you get it from the Local store.

 

If I were you and I suspected the heater core was the problem, I'd bypass it and see if that made a difference. Connect the inlet with the outlet of the heater core and see if that makes a difference. Sometimes it's the small things we over look that are the problem. Good luck.

 

how new is your ect sensor? what brand? i thought i was having an overheating problem and it turned out that my autozone sensor was just reading high

 

and another thing, why not just continue your original thread?

 

I guess my question is does this sound like a problem that a bad heater core would cause? I have never had a bad one so I don't know. I do know it is around $600 bucks to get fixed.

Oh well guess I will get the brakes fixed tomorrow and get it inspected and park it for a while just becoming a money pit right now.

Dakotas ram: why did you create 2 posts instead of just editing your first one?? I just thought making a new topic because of a new problem would make it easier to get help rather than have everyone go back and read the old post and try and determine what I had fixed and what I hadn't.

 

a bad heater core does not cause overheating, unless in some rare event - its leaking coolant out and air IN, and the air is somehow blocking water flow at the pump. normally, the heater helps to cool the engine by acting as a second radiator. i really don't think that's your problem.

my first guess would be a bad t-stat.

 

I am really leaning away from the heater core. my thing is it overheated with 2 brand new T-stats. How good are the odds I bought 2 t-stats from 2 different stores and they were both bad. Also when it gets hot both hoses are hot so the coolant is flowing.

I actually am really starting to think it is in the oiling system. When it gets hot the oil pressure drops BIG I thought that was because of the heat from the cooling system. What if the heat is because of the lack of oil flow.

I am wondering if when I put the oil pump pick-up on I didn't angle it right and it isn't able to keep the oil flowing once the engine warms up and the oil thins out especially running down the road. At start up it is fine but at that point all the oil is in the pan. It is a new oil pump but they are only like $25 bucks for another new one. I may buy one on the way home, high flow oil pumps are only $40 and drop the pan and check then angle. By measuring the distance to the bottom of the pan from the ground then drop the pan and see how far the oil screen is from the ground and see what the differnce is.

I think this will be my next avenue of appoach. If that doesn't fix it I will be forced to take it to a shop. Wish me luck.

 

check this.
you start the engine up cold or cool. the t-stat will be closed and the coolant recirculates within the engine. the top radiator hose will be cold. when the engine reaches the t-stat temp, it should open, and the top rad hose will begin to warm up. since the radiator is cold, then coolant is chilled, and the bottom rad hose remains cold. leave it running and watch your temp gauge. if the temp gauge remains normal, then it means your radiator is cooling properly and the bottom rad hose should remain cool-warm. if you temp spikes up, check your bottom rad hose. if its still cool-warm, then its not the radiators fault, and something in the engine is generating excessive temp (maybe t-stat). on the other hand if your bottom rad hose has gotten very hot, then your radiator/fan is not doing its job.

also check your fan. if you spin it by hand, it should have some resistance, and not free wheel. also, when you turn your truck off, the fan should stop spinning within a few revolutions. it should not freewheel.

 

Dhvaughn - I took your advice. After I changed out the oil pump (which after reading I wanted a high flow one anyway so I was gonna do this regardless) I got much better oil pressure but the issue was it idled up to about 200 and leveled out @ idle but once I got in it and attempted to even move it it shot up to 215 drove to the end of the street 225 said nope took it home. Got mad got frustrated and said screw it I am gonna yank my "brand new" T-stat out and see what happens. With the T-stat out it would not get over 130 degrees. Test drive sucked with no heat but never once over 130. Of course by the time I got home the parts stores were closed so I can't get a new one until today and it is snowing in TEXAS!!! I work with tow trucks so we will see if I can get to it tonight.

My question is this. Is it possibel to ruin a T-stat or was it bad. I just wonder if since the dizzy was off a tooth and running the truck hot how it went bad. The thing is brand new!!! I am not gonna raise heck with Autozone even thought I spent a good amount of time and money looking other places than a brand new part. But any ideas what could have happened?

I always try and look at the bright side so I think I found the problem and also got a new radiator and a couple of other new parts for my truck