I have a 78 Caprice -350, 4bbl. I have a new 185 degree thermostat,radiator is full with coolant mix, fan shroud is on. The car runs at around 220 degrees. This shouldn't be normal. What's my next move? Water pump?

 

are you sure it's the water pump? there's one way to check. with the thermostat open or removed, grab the top radiator hose. pinch the hose, so that no coolant can flow through. release the hose. do you feel coolant rushing through? if it's rushing through, your pump is still working. check to make sure your radiator isnt blocked from the front. also, make sure your clutch fan is operating like it should. with the belt off, you shouldn't be able to spin it freely, there should be some resistance that only lets it spin a little. if your clutch fan isn't spinning when it should, in traffic, your engine is gonna get real hot because theres no air passing through your radiator to cool the coolant.

also, are you running rich? is your exhaust smelling like unburnt gas and dark colored? running rich will spike your temp. it may also make the headers glow.

make sure you didnt put the thermostat in backwards either. i've done that before, and then wondered why i wasnt getting coolant flow, lol.

good luck.

-Andrew

 

Thanks for the tips. I'll check them out.