hey all,i flushed my engine coolant and changed the thermostat sunday afternoon. before, my truck would take ~3 miles or so before the gauge read above 140. once warm, my needle would stay above 140 but NEVER cross 190. since the flush i can reach 190, often before i'm out of my neighborhood. while driving, the needle bounces either side of 190. i have also noticed that the overflow resiovor has more fluid than when i finished the flush(i keep expecting to put more in). the thermostat was one from the local oreillys(murry brand, i believe). is these normal, or do i still have air in the system? it is a little unsettling to see something different from on a cluster you've been staring at for 3 years.

Change your cap? Maybe the cap seal finally broke down a bit and leaking pressure off so the boiling point is lower now and the coolant is leaking out of the system into the bottle. Maybe got a air bubble in the system but with a weak cap it won't burp out...

after i get it up to temp, let it cool down a little, and take the cap off, it has pressure(so much so that it could shoot coolant out of the radiator, but it bleeds off quick. i don't think its excessive or lacking). during the drain, with the cap on, it draws the water out of the overflow. i don't think it would if i didn't have sufficient pressure. i think i am going to chalk it up to the new thermostat, as the gauge doesn't get much past 190 and never gets to the top of the "okay" zone. maybe that old one was a colder temp thermostat or the springs were weak. does anyone's truck stay at 190 while cruising empty?

If I drive long enough it goes to 180-190, bouncing off the two.

Mine hovers right at 193-195*F empty... Loaded I'm seeing 197*F... This is on the SGII but stock gauge hovers at 190*F.

My truck sits at 190 while cruising and goes up to 195 or so when accelerating. I wouldn't be worried about it.

  guesswho512 said:

after i get it up to temp, let it cool down a little, and take the cap off, it has pressure(so much so that it could shoot coolant out of the radiator, but it bleeds off quick. i don't think its excessive or lacking). during the drain, with the cap on, it draws the water out of the overflow. i don't think it would if i didn't have sufficient pressure. i think i am going to chalk it up to the new thermostat, as the gauge doesn't get much past 190 and never gets to the top of the "okay" zone. maybe that old one was a colder temp thermostat or the springs were weak. does anyone's truck stay at 190 while cruising empty?

mine does.but when i first get into the truck in the afternoon after work to head home..hot and humid here you know that...the edge juicew/att will hit the 200 mark..then i guess the thermo opens and goes down to 188 and kinda goes up to 192ish...so pretty much empty and no hills 190*

before, i could only hit 190F(on the cluster) if i was pulling up a long grade. it would get close, and always stayed in the "okay" range. with this thermostat, the truck warms up quick(about 2 miles quicker) and judging by the cluster stays 180-195 range(even when i hammered it the other night). i haven't done any pulling yet. might do some car moving this weekend.