Still overheating

also you mentioned the upperhose as being hot so you know the antifreeze is circulating. next time before the car gets hot. start it up and take the cap off. the thermostat will open up and the circulation will start. when it does see how much flow you have. the water pump should be able to have a small current flowing in the radiator. if it is barely moving (i use my finger to check) then the radiator is either clogged or the water pump is not doing it's job....

One thing I didn't mention - the heater core is bypassed and the hoses that were previously routed through the core have an elbow connector connecting them. I don't know if this would contribute heavily towards overheating.

I ran it with the cap off and there was immediate flow coming through from the upper hose. So the thermostat is apparently in an open position at ambient temperature. The coolant level was just above the radiator core, so I added a bit more water. The flow was then less visible, but the water warmed up fairly quickly since it was an open thermostat. After running it for maybe 5 minutes, the temp had creeped up a little. I'll take it to the store and back to see if it still gets hot. Maybe I worked some air out of it.

I took a picture through the top in case you think the radiator looks clogged. There's some buildup, I guess, but I've seen worse.

Regards,

John

scamp_radiator.jpg