To get the air out of the system, pull up a hill, or just get the right front side of the truck up higher than the rest. Take the cap off of the radiator and run the truck. After the thermostat opens up, you will see bubbles and the coolant level will drop. Once it does this, fill it up, and you're good to go.

 

Ok air in the system with a repair this large is normal, a couple of things to try. 1.) with the engine cold try removing the coolant temp sensor from the intake manifold. Then remove the radiator cap and fill the radiator untill the coolant comes out (air will always look to go to the highest point in the engine and the intake is higher than the radiator.) once filled run the car to temperature with the radiator cap off, chances are good that the rest of air will push its way through the coolant so expect some coolant pouring through the top of the radiator. 2.) dont remove the heater hoses to check for flow at the heater core just turn on the heat with fan on low and feel the hoses, both will get hot (inlet more than the outlet) you should also be able to feel the coolant running through the hoses. 3.) If all the air has passed from the engine, you may want to run another compression test/leak down test to see if you might have another problem with the heads ie: crack in a head or possibly a bad cylinder head gasket. 4.) PUNT. Good luck Rich

 

check your lower radiator hose.. could be plugged with gunk.

as others have said, lift the right front part of the truck so the rad cap is the highest point, turn the heater on full hot... yank the cap and start it up. once the coolant starts flowing thru the upper hose, the t-stat is open and you should start seeing the level drop. keep adding Distillied water & coolant until it's full. then give it a shot and see how it does.

 

The lower radiator hose was just replaced when I did the head gasket....but thanks for the recommondation.

I took it a shop today, he said they put a dye in the head that would turn colors in the radiator if there was a leak in the coolant. It did turn colors but very gradiual. He also said he thinks the radiator is clogged. I was thinking about pulling the radiator and taking it a shop tomorrow and having them flow test it.

My question is, if I had a cracked head would it act this way,,,meaning heat up the way it would. Also, is his test a valid test?? If I were to get the radiator fixed either by replacing it or getting it corded, would it by me some time untill I can pull the heads off and get them machined??

Thx again for everyones help

 

if you swap the radiator, you wont have to do it again unless something from the block plugs it up and it needs to be cleared. the common head cracks are between the valve seats. it show's up as a miss you cant fix. I would do a leakdown test 1st and try to pin point the problem before throwing money at it. If you do swap the heads, get the heavy duty heads... use stock parts for a cost effective build and you should be good to go for a while.

 

If I were to take the head to a machine shop would they be able to find the commom crack you refer to????

I am assuming a leak down test is done with a compression tester connected to each cylinder one at a time...is that the correct way of testing?

 

yes a machine shop can find the cracks. most of the time you'll see a carbon trail between the valve seats... small black line between the valves.

a leak down test is when you put pressurized air into the cylinder, you'll hear it leak out thru either the valve seats, head, coolant passage (radiator) or exhaust.

the compression guage measures how well the cylinder is sealing...

 

Tonight I pulled the radiator to take it to a shop tomorrow morning and noticed that after opening the cockpit only half the radiator drained...then after pulling the lower hose, the radiator was about 1/4 the way full???

Am I understanding the way a radaitor works...shouldn't it all have drained out...either with the cockpit open but definatly with the lower how pulled??? I am thinking this may be a major part of my problem...

 

is it possible you had an air bubble in there when you filled it?

I've lost track... did the radiator shop put a dye in it and it drained down?

 

Well, with everything I did and have done, the problem turned out to be my radiator was 75% clogged I pulled that radiator and took it to a shop and they said there was no where near enough flow. I guess, the first shop I took it to flush the system really didn't know what they were doing. I guess I will not go there again.

It has been over 100degree this week, and it is running around 190degree..just like I like it to...

Thanks for the help with the head gaskets...I learned a lot doing this job. Maybe to much, now I know just enough to be very dangerous..hehehehe