That is an awesome price. Hope it turns out good.

 

Just got the truck back today. So far it seems to be pretty good. Noticed the temp gauge is fluctuating between hot and normal. I drove it on the highway at 75 MPH for about 20 miles and it would go up and down, but not overheat. Coolant is full. I think it's just the thermostat or an air pocket in the system. Not sure if the mechanic used the one from the replacement engine, the one from my old engine, or a new one. I'll probably try to get around to replacing it this weekend. Also have an exhaust leak under the passenger floor board that wasn't there before. Not sure what that's about, but I'll have a look sometime this weekend. Other than those 2 things it seems to run just as good as it did before. Took a quick look under the hood and all seems to be in place just as it should be. Now I just have to get the hot grease smell out of the cab!

 

Well, back to problems AGAIN! Bought a new thermostat and went to put it on today. Evidently the mechanic put the thermostat housing bolts on WAY too tight. The first one was a pain, but it came loose. The second one is on so damn tight that the bolt rounded out to where the socket can't get a grip on it. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a Gator Grip (POS, btw) and that broke (gonna take it back). While using the Gator grip I put a small crack in the housing and caused a leak. Still didn't get the bolt out. I ordered a new housing, but that will take a few days to get here, plus I still need to get the old one off. I've read mixed opinions on using JB Weld or Quicksteel on the housing for a temp fix. Some say it works fine for a short time and other say it doesn't work at all. The crack is pretty small. About as big as the width of a pinky nail. What I figured is I'd go to AutoZone and pick up a bolt extractor and a tube of JB or Quicksteel and see if I can get by until the new housing gets here. Any advice?

 

Just finished test drive. Had to hammer the bolt-grip on but finally got the bolt out. Used quiksteel on the housing. Seems to be holding with no leak at the moment. Drove it down the highway and it was cooling normally. Once I got off the highway it was running slightly warm. Not as hot as before, but seems a little warm to me. Could it be that highway speeds heated the engine up and then driving slower caused it to stay warm? Fan clutch? Or just my imagination? Ugh... This thing will be the death of me

 

Any actual way of monitoring the temps, the in dash gauge is not always accurate.

 

I don't have any way of checking the actual temps, no. I did notice that when the truck would heat up the A/C would get warm/kick off. After changing the thermostat it doesn't get as hot, even with the A/C on, but still seems to climb higher than I think it should. Could it be air pockets moving their way through the system? I figure I'll give it a week and see if it's any better. If not I'll call the mechanic and see what he has to say.