2006 explorer Eddie Bauer overheating in traffic

[spf15beth]

My 2006 explorer has reached 43,000 miles and started to overheat when stopped in traffic? we had a new radiator installed but this must not have been the issue? anyone else had this problem?

 

[jadez03]

Check your thermostat, it's supposed to open up and allow the engine to cool, when I was having intermittent overheating problems in my 96 the thermostat turned out to be the culprit. It's supposed to open when a certain temperature is reached to allow coolant to flow, but mine would stay closed no matter what. It was a really cheap fix, though kind of a pain to get to. Not sure how hard it would be to get to on your model but someone else may have the knowledge. To test them just throw the thermostat into a pot of boiling water and see if it opens.