1990 jetta overheating

i have a jetta i bought not long ago it has been fine

however i did some A arm bushing relacements on it last week

then saturday on way home it ran hot on me

i have looked for the thermostat but can not find it

the fan i straight wired as a test but it still runs hot
it has 4 hoses on it and i checked and 2 of them are hard filled with water and 2 are not

this makes me think it is not circulating

the temp light comes on and blinks within 5 minutes of starting the car up i thought i had fixed it but then today it ran hot again

only thing i noticed is there is a bottom line that returns up the motor and then turns into a metal line it is smashed maybe causing the problem

but why did it just start runing hot is my thing can anyone help me out maybe tell me exactly where the thermostat is located it is not on the motor where the two sensors are and it is not on the front of motor where another neck is with a sensor and 2 hoses so where does it hide at any help solving this would be great

your problem could be that maybe your thermostat is stuck closed which would cause the motor to overheat, based on the how you said that u had no problems until one day it started overheating thats what it sounds like you should check first. I own a 94 jetta 1.8L and the thermostat housing is located on the water pump itself on the bottom right hand side of the motor. If you have power steering you must remove the bracket and p/s pump from the block to access the housing
i would change this first or even test it, by placing it in hot water ( use a thermometer and find the temperature range on your tstat and see if it opens, if not thats your problem,

just got back here thanx for info and yes i bought a book on it and found it it was the thermostat i jst couldnt find it lol anyways on to new problems with my latest issue posted