My brothers was driving and he said the temp gauge was in the blue zone and when he pressed the gas pedal the needle shot up to the red zone. My first thought was the temp sensor was just broken but the coolant did boil over through the cap. The next morning my dad ran it for 35+ minutes and it ran fine and didn't overheat. It was driven down the street (4-6 miles) and temps started to rise and was shut off and towed to a shop. The shop replaced the radiator, thermostat, water pump, and head gaskets and it still overheats. The shop thinks it's cracked block but I have doubts. Should it be able to idle for so long with a cracked block? Also should I be able to turn the fan with my hand? It's feels pretty tight.

 

The fan should not just freewheel, it should give some resistance when you try to turn it.
Did the shop pressure test the block? It sounds like they didn't because if it was bad, why would they put it back together?
Cracked blocks can do some strange things sometimes, it's hard to say if that's the problem. Usually when a block cracks you can't drive far at all before it overheats.

 

The fan does give some resistance. The block was not tested because we got too close to the move on point. So it's possible it could idle for hours with a cracked block?
Does 90+ weather make any difference?

 

Was all that work done by an experienced LR indy shop? If not it is possible that it was not bled correctly after that work... assuming the block is good anyway.

There is a very precise bleed procedure which involves lifting the overflow tank out of its seat and raising it as high as possible without breaking the lines to the TBH or the radiator top drivers side. This is done with the engine cold. Once that is done, open bleed screw and allow coolant to flow until a steady stream without bubbles is coming out then tighten down bleed screw and replace overflow tank. Make sure to not let the overflow tank get empty in the process.

If you don't know what they did I would try the above.

IF that doesn't help THEN you have other issues.

It would also be helpful if you got some sort of OBDII reader so you can get the coolant temp reading directly off the computer. the gauge is an idiot light with a needle that doesn't move until its too late.

 

Just to add a little to the above, you will lose a fear amount of coolant threw the bleeder. Often people will close the bleeder at the first signs of coolant, trapping air in the system.

As far as your bro hes in the clear, you had a leak. If the sensor Isnt surrounded in coolant it will read cold, until its too late.
If the problem continues test the coolant for traces of exhaust gases.

 

Thank you I'll try this in a minute.
On the fan again I took a video, does this ( https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_j4ZNqDDUBU ) look good?

 

These guys above know what they are talking about. I've had overheats and never had the cap boil over unless I had air in the system, either from a head gasket or improper bleeding. If the coolant changes color and/or has oil in it, there is either a bad head gasket or a crack somewhere. If not, you've got air in the system from the initial fill. I have always just raised the expansion tank to get the air out but that's not the right way to do it.