So my friend has a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 with 5.2 litre engine. Another friend Marc replaced the radiator, water pump, Thermostat (he installed a 180 degree one, not sure what was in there before that), thermostat housing and coolant temp sensor. He had to leave town for a bit and my friend wants to use her truck but wasn't sure if it was usable. Marc had not put any anti freeze in it yet so he could see if there were any leaks. He also said he drove it about twelve miles and the temp gauge almost went into the red. I decided there were no leaks and drained radiator and added antifreeze. One problem is I started truck and the temp gauge went to 210 degree's in ten minutes at idle. It continued to go up to to about 240 before I worried and shut engine down. Thing is cab heater air was just warm and top radiator hose was cold telling me gauge is wrong (even though temp sensor is new) and thermostat was not opening. I took out thermostat and put in pot of water on stove with a thermometer and it opened at about 180 degree's so I assumed it was good and reinstalled it. After reading several forums I believe but not sure that a 195 degree thermostat should be used. After several attempts at warming truck up and temp gauge going bonkers high in matter of fifteen minutes at idle I replace temp sensor again and now gauge seems to be normal. So now I have run engine hot enough to open thermostat so top radiator hose gets very hot but bottom hose stays cold. Again forums said air lock and one suggested to jack up passenger side to get radiator fill at the highest point. I did that and friends dad sat in cab and held engine at higher rpm's and I saw a fair amount of air burp out of radiator. It seemed the bottom hose got a little warm but I wasn't convinced we got all the air out. I suggested we drive it without radiator cap on and romp on it thinking get more air out but he insisted on putting cap on. He thought we got all air out. We drove maybe four miles and bottom hose was still cool. Temp gauge says about 170 and heater air is hot but not super hot and engine didn't seem super hot so i'm assuming gauge is correct and engine is not getting to hot but the botton hose is still cool. I read that bottm hose should be from ten to twenty degree's cooler than top hose after going thru radiator. I even saw one video with same year truck that someone installed new radiator with out taking bottom plug out of it and installed hose over it so we even took bottom hose off just to eliminate that. I assume water pump is good (its new) as heater air in cab gets hot and pump pumps that water. I think it is still air locked and am at my wits end on how to get rest of air out. I bought a 195 thermostat today and will install it tomorrow. Don't think that will fix problem but after reading several forums I at least want to do that correct. We live in Southeast Alaska btw as far as our climate and thermostat go. Bottom line is 180 degree thermostat opens and top radiator hose gets very hot but bottom hose stays cool. After re-replacing temp sensor I think gauge is correct. Going to installed 195 degree thermostat tomorrow. Again I think it is still air locked but not sure what else to do. Thank you for any help. Again it's a 1998 Ram 1500 with 5.2 litre engine.

 

Get a 195 degree thermostat, one with the little jiggler feller, that will allow air to bypass the thermostat. Install that, burp the cooling system, and call it a day.

 

I live on an island in Southeast Alaska with one little Napa store. I bought a 195 yesterday but don't know if its the type you mentioned. I might not have a choice. I get that I need to burp system but am out of ideas to do it. The bottom radiator hose remains cool so i'm sure still air locked. Thanx for reply.

 

Just drill a small hole in the thermostat then. (1/8th inch or smaller.)

 

When is there going to be a sticky about this issue? There are three posts just today about it.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...eed-valve.html