Originally Posted by Sharpshooter

Well, I worked on the problem again this weekend with no luck. Tonight I installed a new Mr. Gasket thermostat, new temp sending unit and flushing tee in heater hose to bleed out all of the air. On the test drive it did great for about the first 5 miles or so and then the temp started to climb. Stopped and opened the cap on the tee a little and let out some air. Topped off with coolant. A friend has been helping me and we have been working on it at his shop. After topping off and letting idle to see if we could get more air out of the system it ran around 210 @ idle. On my way home temp ran around 220-225 by the gauge. Seemed to climb so I swithced the heater on and it stabilized. THe gauge still seems to be off some because the fan comes on @ about 225-230 by the gauge. I am going to drive it some to see if more air will work its way out. I am now wondering if I need to go to a 3 core radiator. Radiator is new but not 3 core. Seems to build heat when under load . Anyone have anymore suggestions? All help is greatly appreciated. I have never had an automotive issue stump me like this.

Originally Posted by Sharpshooter

Hi Faol,
I did spring for the 3 core radiator from The Radiator Barn. These guys were great. Shipping was fast too. Any way, I removed the radiator that I had in and also removed the water pump and thermostat. I backflushed the block and the heater core and was dissappointed with the gunk that was flushed even after having the system professionally flushed at a local shop. Afterwards, I reinstalled everything including the new 3 core radiator and a 180* thermostat. This worked great, actually too great as it ran to cool and would not let the computer go into closed loop mode. I have since replaced the thermostat with a 195* unit and so far so good. I hope my experience with this issue will help you and others so that you to will not go mentally insane trying to figure it out.