I'm bugging the wife to take a nursing job in the States. Heat and a US address would be awesome.

 

Everyone will ease-up with the potty-mouth now.

 

You don't need to pull the compressor along with the condenser, just disconnect the wires from it so it doesn't try to start when you run the defroster. You're supposed to recover, recycle the freon as well. That takes special equipment, of course.

 

Are you seeing a normal amount of coolant flow in the radiator with the cap off?
Does this amount of flow change as the engine comes up to temperature?
What was the reason for originally replacing the head gasket?

 

Yes
No
Head gasket was weeping by the thermostat housing. (I was told this is really common on these trucks)

 

Pete,

I'm wondering if maybe your oil cooler is plugged with crud and causing the overheating?

 

Let's start over.

New OEM rad.
New thermostat.........Whose? Is the jiggle pin up? Is it installed correctly? Where did you install the temperature sensing bulb? If you installed the bulb in the top of the thermostat housing make sure it isn't interfering with the thermostat. If the bulb is too long it will prevent the thermostat from working correctly. Easy check, replace the sensing bulb with the plug you took out and try it using just the factory gauge.

Is the fan shroud installed. It makes a little difference.

 

Hmmmmmmm, unknown territory for me........
If you can drag your carcass out of bed give me ring!!!

 

Dodge thermostat
Jiggle pin is up, checked twice
My mechanical gauge bulb is in a port behind my throttle linkage
Fan shroud is a Frankenstein but it's there

 

I removed my AC today.
I haven't used it in the last two years and with the summers we are getting it's just dead weight.
I flushed the block according to Jim's sticky, nothing really gross came out, maybe two tablespoons of grit.
I have a great big area of the radiator now showing.
Will test it tom and see what I come up with.

 

All you need to do to bypass the AC compressor is get a shorter belt listed for a non AC truck and route the shorter belt slightly differently, as indicated by the sticker on the core support.

 

You have answered your own question. With it being blocked you do not have air flow threw your radiator. Get rid of this and then try it.


HTH

 

Just got back from a road test.
Less parts, same problem.

 

I might of missed it, but are you running the factory gauge or are you running an after factory gauge? I know that a difference in the after factory gauge of 2 degrees is half the gauge on the factory gauge.

 

I'm using both factory and a "Phatom 2" mechanical gauge.
They both climb when the temp goes up.