Flushed the radiator and changed the thermostat on the 95 today. Got home and the temp was 200. Let it run while I checked over a couple of things got back in literally 2 minutes later and the temp was 226. Bad thermostat or any other ideas ?

 

Make sure your fans are working correctly. The "on" temp for the primary fan is around 219* and the secondary fan comes on around 227*.

The C4s are bottom breathers and hence inhale anything and everything regarding debris into the cooling stack. My bet is that if you walk around to the passenger side of the radiator shroud and peek thru the opening (where the ac condensor lines go inside the shroud) with a flashlight, you'll see all kinds of debris stuck in the radiator cooling fins. If you look under the front of the car up at the ac condensor, you're likely to see a bunch of debris there as well. If either of the aforementioned areas are full of debris, the car will exhibit overheating symptoms. If there's a lot of debris, there are three ways to remove it....1) remove the shroud (PIA), 2) use high pressure water from the fan side (i.e. the water stream is pointed forward) at the risk of getting the wiring and opti wet or 3) use compressed air in place of the high-pressure water. I insert a shop vac hose in the opening in the shroud and as the compressed air is blowing debris free, the shop vac sucks it up.

 

Probably your gauge not reading correctly.
If it is correct, try flushing out the outside of the radiator by spraying water at it from the back side.
After that drain some coolant out of the radiator and look at the tubes inside, do you see deposites in there? If you do, drain it completely and refill with a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water, let it sit for 48 hours and drain & flush the system throughly then refill with coolant/water.

 

The radiator cap on '90s and up is on the fill tank near the firewall on the passenger side. You can't see the radiator tubes by removing the cap.

 

Dumb question but I had no overheating problems before the radator was flushed and the thermostat was changed today. It is a 1995 with 22K if that helps solve this.

 

Likely means they didn't get all the air out of the system. There's a brass bleeder screw on top of the thermostat housing. With the engine cooled off, open the bleeder screw and it should dribble coolant out. If nothing comes out, there's air in the system. Add coolant/water into the fill tank until it comes out the bleeder screw. Top off the overflow tank to the "Full Cold" line. Should be good to go.

 

was it 'burped' correctly?

 

Sorry, I'm new at this. How do you burp it ?

 

Burp it, read post #6.

 

There are two bleed valves that have to be open as the cooling system is filled with coolant. One is on the thermostat housing just above where the lower radiator hose attaches. It's brass and has a slotted screw top. You should easily be able to see it. The other is on the driver's side of the throttlebody whre the small bypass hose exits. It's sort of hidden at the lower corner of the TB and it looks just like the other one.

With the bleed vales open, the coolant is poured in and any air that is inside the system is forced out of these bleed valves. As soon as coolant is seen draining from the valves in a steady stream, the valves should be closed. The coolant should be filled to the top of the expansion tank and the motor started. As the coolant temp rises and the thermostat opens, more coolant is addded to the top tank until the level is just below the lip of the opening and the level stays steady. The coolant temp should be closely monitired during this time.

My service manual says that you should not use any full throttle engine operation until the coolant has gone thru 3 complete operating temp/cold cycles. This should get any remaining air out of the system.

With the engine cold, remove the radiator cap and add a coolant mix so the level is just below the lip. Replace the cap and bring the motor up to operating temps and see if the temp holds.

 

Those temps yopu mentioned are perfectly normal, but I do agree with teh burping of the system.

226 after idling for a couple minutes is about right on.