Does your heater work? Are you sure of the temp? Just throwing thoughts out there, opening day was this week after all ...Mark

 

I'm thinking the same thing.
Just needed someone else to chime in and agree.
And to maybe pop off with something I'm overlooking.

 

I could cook food in my cab with the heat on full.
I also have an Autometer mechanical gauge as well.

 

If something crushed all the vanes on the A/C condenser, then, maybe that's involved and there's something to the air-flow theory. Worth a try before you throw away a bunch of perfectly good anti-freeze.

One other thought, does the engine over-pressurize the system and puke the radiator? Any chance of a load-related head gasket leak into the cooling system? What made the original, then the custom radiator fail (overpressure?)? Have you had an exhaust-gas-in-the-cooling-system test done?

 

If you cannot get water through the condenser then there is a good chance you cannot cooling air through it.

 

I had a very similar problem on my truck (it was my old ford, but the concept is the same). It was mid-winter in Wisconsin, and I had recently put new coolant in it that was mixed 50/50, and the truck sat for a while, and when I got it out, it was fine until I reached about 55-60 mph, and then it would overhead almost instantly. I screwed around with new thermostats and stuff for a while before I realized that my radiator was plugged (bottom hose off, and coolant still visible in top tank). I took the radiator out and took it to a shop to have it rodded out. They called me a couple days later saying that nothing was wrong with it. Then it dawned on me that the coolant must have froze in the radiatior plugging it enough to allow in town speeds, but nothing more, and when the radiatior sat inside the shope overnight, it all melted out. I put the rad back in with new coolant again (not the cheap candy this time), and the truck has been fine ever since. Might be something to think about...

 

Over pressurize, no, rad has never boiled over and the tank stays same level as does the overfull bottle
Head gasket is new and not a concern
I don't know, it just started leaking but I'd been tinkling around with the fan, belts, etc so I'm thinking I just nicked it. (I'm an expert at wrecking things!!!)
I've never heard of that test before....

 

I'll take a pic and show you how haggard it is.

 

Try taking out the condenser and replacing it with a cooling fan or 2. This may solve the heating problem, but doesn't fix what is causing it. I think that there must be an obstruction to air flow, i.e. condenser, or obstruction to water flow, i.e. plugged water galleys. There is so much reserve built into these rigs that, where you live, heating should never be a problem...Mark

 

If I take out the condenser I'll need to take off the ac pump as well no?? I sure the coolant is also a lubricant. Would I need to use a different serpentine belt??
I have never used my AC up here.
I like the Iraq/Afghanistan heat!!! It's never too hot for me weather wise. Getting real tired of snow as I get older.

 

That's not likely at 0C if you put 50/50 or better in it. We had a similar thing happen, though. My folks came to visit in their station wagon in the dead of winter. Dad got out in the morning to start the car. In a few minutes it overheated and boiled out all over. That -30F air flying through the radiator froze it up and prevented water circulation, but there was enough heat in the block that it didn't freeze that. I had to go rent a salamander and aim it at the front of the car to thaw out the radiator

 

Maybe someone more knowledgeable will chime in, but I don't think you have to worry about the compressor, it only spins when the clutch is engaged. That way you just remove the condenser and cap off any open ends, so not too much contamination gets in. The system should be easily restorable, if someone wants to down the road...Mark

 

And then you pick your favorite Mossberg from your collection and teach it a lesson!!!!! I'm thinking the 14" would do the job nicely!!!

 

I have lived in Phoenix almost my entire life and I have learned to really appreciate the heat. I like it, the hotter the better. But then. after 3 months or so of it, i really like the 9 months of not hot and not cold season. I think heat is much healthier than cold and cold is something to be visited, not lived in...Mark

 

Man, you should move to Arizona, you would fit in perfectly...Mark