My temp hand runs in the middle once up to operating temperature which I thought was normal until doing a little reading, aux fan runs even without the AC being on also. I hooked up my scan gauge and temp got up to 218 idling, so I went to local parts store and got a sever duty fan clutch. While installing the clutch I noticed that someone in the past had cut some of the fan blades off??? My question is should the bottom radiator hose be close to the same temp as the top hose once at operating temp? I know theoretically it should be cooler due to the radiator removing heat from the coolant but mine is nowhere near the same temp,top hose will burn you within seconds and bottom hose you could touch all, day long. Thanks,Craig.

 

My temp runs in the middle and always has, I just replaced my water pump, fan clutch, fan, top radiator hose and thermostat, basically my whole cooling system and it still runs in the middle. From what I have read the middle is normal, and I have also read that 218 degrees is normal, unless you do the 160 degree inline thermostat mod. The radiator hose thing I don't know about. The real question is... Do you have heat? I mean can you set the climate control all the way hot and get heat out of all your vents?

 

The heat coming out of the vents is really good,actually I can feel heat coming from somewhere on my feet or legs even when the climate control is turned off.

 

Then as long as you aren't hearing a waterfall sound coming from your dashboard while cornering, I'd say your cooling system is working fine. Throw the heavy duty clutch fan on and throw a bottle of water wetter in, bleed the system as per the RAVE manual just to be sure, and you are done.

 

Until someone else says the temperature differential is not normal, I am saying it is. I noticed the same thing on my own vehicle last weekend when I flushed the coolant. While running the vehicle with plain water, after the initial flush, every other time thereafter, and after I refilled and bled the coolant... the lower radiator hose remained cool. In the three years I have owned it, the temp gauge has never gone past 1/2. It slowly climbs to 1/2 from cold, and remains there steadily.

I thought it was weird that my lower hose was so cool, yet on the other side of the thermostat, I couldn't keep my hand on the hose for more than a few seconds at operating temperature.

 

Your t/stat if working properly starts to open at 180 and is full open at 192. Mine runs at around 198 to 204, 218 is too hot for just driving around town and I would suggest you consider having your radiator cleaned out.

 

The previous owner put a new radiator in it less that a year ago. Would a bad t'stat cause this type of problem.thanks.

 

Mike, do you have an answer to the lower hose being almost cool to the touch?