> I then went to the engine and also put hands on
> the radiator
> hoses.....upper and lower without major pain. Upper was some
> warmer.
>
> My
> temperature guage is not accurate but in testing the radiator
> with a meat
> thermometer I'm from 180 to 185.
This part puzzles me. You're saying that the radiator is hot, but the hose
leading to it is not? How thick were your mittens? I
can't hold my hand on 180F even with major pain.
However, if your thermostat is working properly, I would expect to find the
bottom of the radiator significantly cooler in cooler
weather (assuming there is air flowing through it). At 50F outdoors, the upper
hose & tank should be hot though (about the same
temperature your thermostat opens at). If not, your thermostat may be stuck
open.
I've had similar problems (when I lived in a cooler climate) with lack of
circulation through the heater. The stock pipes & hoses
are small and long, and seem to present a lot of resistance to flow compared to
the path through the head and bypass hose.
Something that might be worth fiddling with (but I never tried for that
purpose) would be adding some restriction to the bypass, to
force more water through the heater.
I actually went as far as enlarging the holes in the head & water pump housing,
and replumbing the system in larger pipes & hoses
(1/2" id copper pipe plus short couplers of 5/8" heater hose). But then I
moved to CA and never got to see how much improvement I
achieved.
Randall
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