hey ya'll... small problem

[Not a Total Loss]

i live in the middle of no where, va. i am the proud recipient of a 92 explorer. gifted to me by my grandad. i threw a battery in it and it started right up after years of sitting. did some basic preventive maintanence... new brakes and lines, new exhaust, plugs, wires, tires... the whole nine yards. after getting it inspected, it began to overheat. so i cut it off, let it cool, got it home and decided to flush the coolant system and replace the thermostat. did fine for a day or two, and then started running hot again. so i pulled the heater core and flushed it, pulled the t stat, and noticed it was slightly discolored so i flushed it again. did fine for a few more days and now its hot again. i'm thinking radiator or cap or pump. i'm at my wits end, the truck was free but parts are not. any advice???

 

[Blee1099]

Could be the fan clutch.. Thats a typical problem.. Especially on a 18 year old vehicle.

 

[zukman]

2 things to check that might answer your question.
start the truck with radiator cap off, watch and wait for it to come up to running temp. thermostat open. carefully look inside radiator if water shows no sign of movement, your pump is gone. can also be the rad cap it self. no pressure means it will back flow when shut down and then spew.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! You could have a partially clogged radiator or a defective fan clutch as previously stated.