I was getting 221 when idling and on the highway. my stock t stat was stuck.. yours may just be stuck.. my 180 completely fixed it

 

Belt route triple check?

 

if it as brand new radiator, then you need to start back at square one.
recheck everything from the beginning.
clutch fan, aux. fan, belt routing, t-stat, coolant ratio,CO2 in the coolant,
There is no way you should be seeing 221 if all the systems are working

 

OK guys...maybe a dumb question...what is the tool called that is used to 'comb' the radiator fins back into place? I hit both an Advance Auto and a Carquest today and they had no idea what I was looking for...

 

i am still trying to figure my temps out too as i still hit 220 on the highway (low 190's in town) with new radiator, thermostat (soft spring), heads, headgaskets, waterpump, fan clutch, belts. aux fan spins freely and comes on with AC... I am getting a new coolant temp sensor and having the shop quadruple check the belt routing tommarrow.. Everything is new on mine, but still hot on the highway. beyond frustrated..

 

comb.

 

Perfect. Thanks jafir. I tried another Advance Auto and a Napa and nobody had them, so I'll be ordering a set momentarily.

I pulled the shroud last night and used a IR thermometer gun to check the surface temps of the radiator at various points between the top/inlet and bottom/outlet. Yesterday evening prior to checking it, I drove the D2 11 miles in traffic with the heater blowing and the UltraGauge reading a max temp of 194*, then I let it sit (off) for 10 minutes while I found my buddy's IR thermometer and replaced the battery in it.

When I checked them, the rad. surface temps varied from 174* near the inlet down to 135* near the outlet with no apparent 'cold' spots. The surface temp of the hose running from the outlet to the bottom of the thermostat read 125*, while the hoses coming out of the top of the thermostat came in at 145*. I will try repeating this again today when I get a chance to take the truck for a spin.

I definitely need to straighten some fins, but from these initial results I'm going to pick up a new thermostat and replace mine to see if this one is stuck. (It shouldn't be stuck, the external case shows no damage, and it functioned just fine before the fan exploded, but maybe it got whacked and isn't right...)

Anyone know what the part number is for the new 180* thermostats? I'm not seeing them on AB or RN...

 

Nevermind...found it myself on Amazon...

 

Installed new fan clutch and temp sensor today and the temps are actually higher.. Hit 221 on the highway within 2 miles. Around town i went from low 190's to 203-206.

WTF is going on??

 

That's the junk one, the good t stat is actually gray in color.