Background
'04 5.7l hemi. 45k miles, changed water pump, thermostat and serpentine belt and topped off coolant since existing was only a year old. Took two gallons anyway.

Problems
1. First heat cycle after WP change temp went way high, had to pull over steam all over engine compartment. Waited a few minutes and heard the coolant start to flow and all was fine after that, temps went to normal and no leaking. After that first time the water temp heats up normally and stays rock solid on half gauge reading as it always did before. Drove 100 miles with several heat/cool cycles and no problems.

2. Needed heat one AM and very little from driver side, some from passenger side. This problem remains today.

3. Then out of the blue, temp goes high again to about 3/4 of gauge and stays there. Still have cabin lack of heat problem but no steam or coolant leaks,

Question
I may two separate problems, one is a flaky thermostat. Can the heat problem be caused by putting the heater hoses back on reversed? Could it be causing all the problems? It's a possibility I did swap them accidentally but thought I was careful enough.

Or is there something else I am not thinking of?

 

Did you burp her?

 

"Did you burp her?"

No, what's the procedure?

 

I don't know if there is a special procdure for thees trucks but i do it the "old school way"....take the radiator cap off and start the motor,Keep it running watching the fluid level in the radiator and watch the temp gauge.Water will come out of the radiator neck( but thats normal).when the thermostat opens(it should be around your normal operating spot is on the gauge) the coolant level in the radiator will drop (alot) fill the radiator with the proper coolant/water mixture untill full,put the radiator cap back on,top off the coolant bottle to where you normally fill it,take for test drive

a chiltons manual may have a extended way of doing it,but this is the way i have alays done vehicles.

 

Not sure I got up to full operating temp but I did the procedure till till the coolant level in the rad stopped going down and started to rise. I assumed the thermostat opened and all the air was out.

Can a reversed heater hose connection cause any of this?

 

The coolant cap isn't on the radiator, it's on the coolant recovery tank, so you won't see water moving like in the past. Does sound like air in the system somewhere.

One side cool, one side warm is a blend door symptom. Not related to the water pump replacement.

 

So, what's the proper procedure to bleed air out of the system?

And is there a blend door troubleshooting procedure?

Thanks

 

A t-stat with a bleed hole is needed, I believe. Someone did a "how-to" on one of the forums. I don't remember what forum or the exact procedure. Coolant into the top radiator hose, maybe?

You've pretty much already done the blend door troubleshooting -- inconsistent air flow is the symptom. I don't recall if there is a fix beyond (or short of) replacing the door.

 

sorry my radiator cap is actually on the radiator....i forgot they got changed on the newer models

 

What type of therostat did you install?Did you turn heater on when filling with coolant?Sounds like your thermostat is not working correctly.I only install fail safe thermostats.They stay opened if they fail,not closed like other thermostats.