2004 tacoma with 2002 2.7 motor running hot. please help i need this truck asap

I have a 2004 Tacoma with a 2002 2.7L motor that is running hot. it started over heating so I changed the water pump, 2 thermostats, temp sending unit, and just had the headgasket replaced and it is still running hot. im at a loss and im getting super aggravated with it because I need the truck for work and it keeps letting me down. please help me!!!

 

How old is the radiator?

I consider rads a replaceable part.

Are you relying on the dash gauge? They are not very accurate. Get a scangage II or similar OBD port scan tool to get a true coolant temp.

 

make sure the fan is operating properly.

 

Not sure if it pertains to these, but did you make sure there is no air in the cooling system?

 

its the original radiator and I just replaced the motor and it had 135k on it when replaced. yes im going off the guage in the dash but its never ran that hot before. how can I tell if the fan isn't working properly? whats the best way to check and make sure the air is completely out of the system?

 

Truck cold, open rad cap, start truck, squeeze coolant hoses slowly, and watch the level come up. If bubbles are in there, they'll pop through. I'm no mechanic, but this is how I do it.

Edit for sentence structure.

 

how long did you do this for? a few bubbles came out but its still running warm. im going to try and upload a pic of the gauge

 

Here's a pic

 

Another

 

Few minutes. Some bubbles are a PITA to get to come out. My money is on more bubbles if that's the temp it ends up at.

 

Alright. Would it also help so drive It up on some blocks on the side the radiator cap is on to try and elevate it so the bubble go toward the cap?

 

Yes

 

Also when I'm trying to squeeze the bubbles out I noticed that the top radiator hose is hot to the touch but the hose coming from the thermostat is cold. Could that be something? And it's up to temp

 

Or could that just be because I don't have the radiator cap on so it's not getting pressure to the thermostat

 

Yup, sounds right since the lower is the cooled coolant. See here for a better explaination.

 

The cap needs to be on since it's a closed system... What was the temp rating on the thermostat you installed? Sometimes they can come in different temp ranges, but not sure on the 1st Gen Tacos.

 

Cap on for testing, forgot about that. TY @NiteTaco

 

Is your fan clutch okay? If it was bad it would be running at full speed at all times IIRC.

 

I'm not sure the rating but I could find out. Fan clutch as in the fan on the front of the motor?

 

Yeah the assembly goes bad sometimes.