00 2500 van overheating issue

[cramer_77]

Got a 00 ram van 2500 with the 5.2L in it, was originally dropped off cause it was overheated and just left to set at the customers house. After pressure testing come to find out it needed a new radiator and water pump, he said go ahead, replaced all of that and also put a thermostat and gasket in it while i was in there, flushed the heater core and put everything back together. After starting it and letting it run it starts to overheat again, and top hose doesn't get warm till about 220F, Its a 195 thermostat, it blows hot inside van, didn't know if anyone might have suggestions? Customer never said how hot he let it get when it overheated and it will hold pressure just fine now. Oh, and the van has 156,000 miles.

[alloro]

It could simply be air-bound under the t-stat. Drive the front end up on ramps or park it facing up a hill with a decent grade to it. Run the engine up to temperature with the radiator cap off, until the t-stat open. This will make the radiator a high point allowing the air to move out of the engine.

[cramer_77]

Well once we let it cool down we noticed that if we squeezed the top radiator hose the coolant level wouldn't change, and i know that on every other one i have done that to it normally makes the level go up and down. So we decided to take the top radiator hose off thinking maybe there was a blockage, as soon as i started to take it off the coolant level went down significantly, but we never took the hose completely off. So we went ahead and topped it off, and started it. I let it set and run for almost a half hour and it never topped 190F, i have never worked of the ram vans before, definitely a problem i didn't expect. Thanks alloro, you were dead on with this one.