mechanic went against my theromstat, which is cleveland specific..... dont know why...
he used MR GASKET 4363. no brass hat....it is still running hot
I think this means the mechanic did not like the cleveland specific thermostat. So he installed a NON CLEVELAND thermostat.
If this is true, then there is a shortage of water circulating around your heads....shortage of water circulation means higher temperature where the water temperature sender is located.
Suggestion 0:
Obtain 40 pounds of BLOCK ice and put them in front of your radiator. If that doesn't keep your motor cool, then it doesn't matter how big of a radiator you get. Only 1/2 kidding on this suggestion.
Suggestion 1:
To continue using the NON CLEVELAND thermostat, you need to remove(by destroying) the current bypass restrictor and replace it with the pin holed restrictor plate/washer.
Suggestion 2:
To see if your gauge is working properly,
1. With engine cold, remove water in radiator until it is below the level of the sender. Then you can remove the sender without losing radiator fluid.
2. Ground sender to battery, leave other lead attached.
3. Boil water in your wife's tea pot...water is boiling when it whistles.
4. If you have a meat thermometer, put that in the tea pot. It should be at 212F while water is boiling.
5. Put sender in teapot and turn ignition to RUN...not start.
6. Determine if gauge reading matches meat thermometer.
I believe the end of the NORMAL line on a gauge is 220F.
Suggestion 3:
TEST THE BYPASS
I have not tried this myself, but seems to me the following procedure should work.
0. Remove water from radiator until it is at a level below bypass hose on water pump.
1. With engine cold, replace bypass hose on water pump with a CLEAR hoses...only temporary.
1.1 Put water back into radiator.
2. Start up engine, observe water flow in hose.
3. When engine is COLD, water should flow. At this point water from the HEADS ONLY are circulating from the heads through the water pump back through the head.
4. When the engine is WARM and the thermostat opens, water should virtually STOP FLOWING in the clear bypass tube. If water continues to flow, then water from the heads is not being routed into the radiator and never has a chance to cool.
If you are using the proper thermostat, but the bypass is not being sealed when the engine is warm, then you need to replace the bypass restrictor with a new one, or replace it with the pinholed restrictor along with a non Cleveland thermost.
When you run this test with BOTH a pinholed restrictor and non Cleveland thermostat, the water SHOULD NEVER EVER FLOW (maybe a trickle) through the bypass. Otherwise, I really don't have a clue as to what I am talking about....