You know what guys. Yes I did hear gurgling After changing the thermostat. I had it jacked up in the front and let it warm to burp, but I am thinking now you guys are right. It so hard to get it up to temp by myself with the heater on. I'll try again after work and post back. Maybe I'll have the wife Rev it up a little? Anyway, I cannot believe how quickly you all have been so helpful. I am very appreciative.

 

Nice guys always finish last


And when I did my thermostat, I had to start it, let it warm up...shut it down and let it cool...then repeat. It took like 3 times to get it mostly cleared up

 

Well I jacked up the right front until the upper hose was well above the heater. Ran it until about 194f. Cranked the heat on. (It won't get above 170 with the heat on at idle. ) sqeezed the lower rad hose. Finally some indication that the thermostat was open, a Little warm, not frozen. Then I sqeezed the heater hoses and some bubbles came up. Oddly sqeezing the upper rad hose produced bubbles from the radiator side of the cap. I feel like it wasn't enough to matter much but from what I read air makes a big difference. I'll have to wait to drive it gotta take care of the family. I'll post back

 

Glad to hear you're getting things cleared up, unfortunately the "Evil Geniuses" at GM built in an air trap by making the heater core the high point of the cooling system.

In the absolute worst case scenario, a competent radiator shop can pull a vacuum on the system to evacuate the rest of the trapped air.

 

However, just to throw a wet blanket on the party: lots of small bubbles might be from head gasket. Which would also cause overheating from hot gasses.

 

A good point Don, and not an unreasonable possibility if the overheating continues, or if the system is still "air bound" after several attempts to burp it.

 

I hope this isn't a double post If so I'll delete later. My first post isn't showing. I did the above to no avail. It still overheats unless the heater is on full blast. I guess I have to say uncle and take our to a local repair shop that I trust. Maybe they can figure it out. I've already saved a ton of money replacing the radiator and thermostat myself. Thank you all for the help. I'll post back when I learn more

 

Sense this problem started after you changed the radiator I wonder if there is a defect in the radiator. Like blocked passages?

I have had cheep aftermarket radiator that did not hold up or perform
to specs. Just a thought

 

It does seem odd. Like it's not flowing through the radiator. If I have time this weekend I may pull it apart and check everything with water. Block, heater, radiator etc.

 

I tried and tried to actually observe flow in mine, never did.

I believe yours has a "surge tank", that should take care of air bubbles; assuming that the pressure cap is good (they do go bad).

Does the level in the tank ebb and flow from cold to hot? Does it go down after it cools all of the way to cold? Does the coolant disappear. Have you heard any strange sounds from the water pump?

I am not understanding why the heater on full blast would make a huge difference. There is no flow valve, the core is supposed to always be "hot". The cabin temp is controlled by air flow. Small difference I can understand.

Your local Advance/AZ/O'Reilly etc. may have a loaner kit for testing for exhaust gasses in coolant.