[OrangeCrush1970]

WHOOO!!!! Well, that was a long chase, but I think I've got the overheating issue resolved. We did boil my thermostat, and it opened. Checked the water pump and it was doing it’s job so I pulled my radiator (Im running a 400 radiator on my 350) and took it to the shop to have it tested. Sure enough, there was some blockage so I had them core it out and rebuild it. Got it back in the truck and my temp gauge was still reading higher than usual (used to be about an 1/8 the way off the cold tick). I also noticed that the gauge would not fully set back at dead cold when I turned the key one notch (truck had not been run in 2 days). Could I have messed the guage up when it overheated? I went and got a new temp sending unit…same story. Now we did all the regular checking / precautious stuff and the truck was running like no bodies business so I decided to drive it around. It never overheated, the gauge never got above a little past half way, so in my mind the gauge may have been defected by the overheating. My thoughts are that the original thermostat that I replaced 2 weeks ago may have been rated at 180 degrees, and on top of that stuck OPEN because my truck always ran cool (which I know is not good in the wear department). Im currently running a 195 degree therm. Thoughts?

Oh, thanks for letting me find my way into the ‘younger’ truck thread!