OK, a longer test drive with outside temps in the 90's. It stayed right around 197-200 until I stopped and used a Infrared thermometer on the thermostat housing. Got a reading of 199 so that sounds close enough. driving home up a long hill, it got up to 216 and cruising down the back side it dropped to 205..Temp gauge now stays right in the middle. After the hill up and down, about a mile driving at 35 mph it stayed right around 210. When I got home, I turned on the AC for about 10-15 min and it got up to 219 and pretty much stayed there (no fans came on) Thinking I may wire a switch on the fans to 12v direct and manually turn them on and off to see if it makes a difference. but not today, too hot out there!!

 

upon further suggestions, I ran 12 vdc directly to each fan and got... nothing. Can't believe I didn't try this before but I guess I didn't. Have a set of fan motors on order through Amazon, hopefully they are the right ones to fit.

 

The information is on the technical page! They’re from a 93’ Toyota Corolla, I know you can get them on Rockauto also.

 

price with shipping from Rockauto is higher than Amazon, as it can be picked up with free shipping. I have had issues with Rockauto's shipping supposedly due to Coronavirus and had better luck with Amazon. Also the 'generic' pictures of the part on the Rockauto site doesn't look like the ones on my vehicle. Amazons pictures look the same as what i have. One of the problems with buying online and not being able to compare actual item with what you want.
I did a search by the part number on the Technical Page.

 

Fans came yesterday and they look identical to what is (was) on the truck. Kind of a pain to get them out, but they are sitting on the table with the new motors in place. Just have to find the time to put them back on the truck....

 

fans are installed and WORK!! another plus is since I had to take off the hood latch, now it works lots easier..... double win !!

 

Any tips on how to put the hood latch together? I walked away with an “extra” piece of flat metal with a hole in it.

 

Didn't see a flat metal, there is a plate on top but it has a rib on each side by the bolt holes. and a pair of plates with a hole and a bent edge for the safety latch, one went down in the cutout, and the other went up to guide the latch into the cutout.

releasing the return spring made assembly much easier.

 

temps in the lower 80's, and a looong drive...
53-63 mph temps were in the 207-215
63-68 mph temps were in the 218-220
Hills went a touch hotter, coasting downhill, things would cool off down to lowest of 207.
If I stayed under 40 (in town) temps were 195-200

Gonna take some more testing, but when temps got above 220, fans did go on! I doubt the would do much when driving at 60+ mph.

All this was done with AC shut off and a 55 mile trip each way.

* update* after it cooled down to about 175, I opened the plug on the top of the radiator and it was low on coolant in there... Air bubble?? I filled it and reinstalled the plug.

 

Still fighting this... latest theory is the thermostat is opening too much and coolant is flowing too fast through the radiator, not allowing it to cool from the airflow through the fins. riving at lower speeds, and lower engine rpms allows the coolant to stay in the radiator longer and dissipate the heat...Using a 180 thermostat that may be of questionable quality (my guess) Going to try for a genuine Land Rover 195 thermostat and see if that makes a difference.
Open to suggestions or theories..
No external leaks, oil in coolant, or coolant in oil, coolant level stays constant.