i flushed the coolant completely, no more gunk. new 180* tstat, new radiator cap, and i've used a radiator flushing solvent.
after i did all of this, the temp stayed about a constant 195-210. i know i probably have a plug in my radiator, so this temp was okay with me.
last night while driving, my water temp gauge started spiking up into the red. i was about two miles away from home and was going extremely easy on her. it was weird because while driving, the temps weren't going down, even with the fans on. sometimes on hot days in stop-n'-go traffic, she gets to about 230, but the fans kick in and she drops all the way to 190. usually just driving keeps it at about that range. both hoses are hot and tough, the radiator gets warm all around, so it doesn't seem like there's a plug.
but get this. while driving with it in the red, it suddenly dropped down, spiked back up, then started moving all over the place, then slammed to 205 and stayed there.
when i got home, i popped the hood and felt around; no boiling coolant, no hissing. things were modestly hot, but not scalding hot like it was suggesting 250 to be. i'd say things were at standard operating temp. i bought a coolant temp sensor from autozone, which i believe may be giving me false readings. when installing it, i didn't bolt it in as tight as i would've liked to due to clearance issues, so i left it be. i'm thinking maybe the proximity of the wire to the crossover and dogbone mounting bracket is causing it to tack on extra heat and it's throwing the gauge off? that was my suggestion.
when i was flushing it, i took off the upper hose to make sure coolant was being circulated properly, and it was. the water pump seems to be functioning, no pulley bearings going bad or anything except for my a/c compressor, which i have a bypass pulley for but have yet to install.
when this needle was moving after the red, it wasn't just dipping up and down. it was freaking the f#ck out. i'm thinking i just probably need a new coolant temp sensor.
anyone else have any suggestions?
edit: when in the red, the idiot "temp" light never came on. i don't know if both of these gauges run off of the sensor or if the idiot light reads from something else, but i figured i would share that as well.
