over heating issue with Toyota pickup 2nd gen 22r

Hi i am new to this forum and have been reading others posts and figured i could get some advice. i have a 1984 Toyota pickup with over heating issues. i just bought it for super cheap seemed to run well until the other day it started over heating after running for about ten min. i popped radiator cap and noticed a thermostat gasket floating in coolant it looked old and was ripped up. previous owner had thermostat replaced 2 weeks before i bought it at a radiator shop. i figured lazy mechanics probably double stacked gaskets and the old one got pushed threw system. i have NOT had time to pull thermostat out i work too much but am off this weekend. my other thought is a head gasket i have looked all around for leaks and there are none its a really clean motor but it does leak a lot of water out the tailpipe and the pressure in radiator builds fast with no sigh of heat. the needle in cab will say extremely hot when the coolant is barely warm i am confused. any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!

 

Never trust the previous owner.
Open the thermostat and make certain it is in the proper direction, and if it has a weep hole, make certain it is facing up to let air bubbles out.
2. this is an old truck. I have a lot of experience with old trucks. A truck that old often has crud in the lower engne block. I would do a hard flush (yes i know it is winter) and if life were perfect flush, reverse flush several times and run water for a few days. Then I would punch out one of the freeze plugs to see if the lower section is cruded or not. It is a pita to do this, but this lets me flush the engine out and remove the lower scale. Have you disconnected the heater core and flushed it out in both directions. is it crud or clean. water pumps for these are like 30$. doubt if this is the issue, but hey, your in there ate the same time. usually it is crud and reverse thermostat. cannot tell you how many backwards thermostats (from factory trained professionals) i have seen. test the thermostat in a pot of boiling water on your stove and a wire to dangle itin.

 

thanks im going to be tinkering with it this afternoon i hope its just something easy i don't have the time to do a head gasket this week. ill let you know what i find out later tonight

 

One day, years ago, while driving in DFW traffic, I noticed my 94 Toy Pickup, with the R22RE motor, would get warm at stop lights and in traffic, but return to normal temps while moving at 25 mph or higher. I had been riding the motorcycle for months and didn't know when the overheating started, but hadn't used the truck much since it was good weather for the motorcycle. The next day I drove to the airport and flew to New York, returned the following Saturday, and took off the next day, Sunday for a week in San Diego, and got home late Friday evening, with Saturday off, but leaving Sunday for Baltimore. So, my one day home in three weeks, I did laundry, went to the local NAPA store, and got upper and lower radiator hoses, new belt, antifreeze and heavy duty radiator flush plus thermostat and extra gaskets.

I did the full flush, two or three full/drain cycles, put on the new hoses, thermostat, belt, antifreeze and thought the problem was licked...and it got warm around the block at the drive-through, while waiting for red beans and rice. Disgusted, I drove it to the airport again, and did my weeks work out of town. Looking on the internet, and on some of the forums, I saw the suggestion that if the fan clutch was over five years old, over 50k miles or covered with grease, it should be replaced. It was ten years old, almost 200k miles and the fan clutch housing was covered in oil, so I met ALL the criteria.

This time, I had a whole weekend home, got the fan clutch ($35 at the closest FLAP), popped in on with four nuts, in ten minutes and it didn't overheat for the rest my ownership period.

But, I NEVER overheated it.

Your truck has been overheated and most likely needs the head off. Get a pressure tester and FIND the leak. You might have to open the oil cap and listen for the hiss, or pull one plug at a time, and again listen for the hiss. Once the head is off, get it to a machine shop for evaluation.

Howard