I was in surprise but moved to Oklahoma =/

Why do you recommend not testing it without a thermostat?

 

then he said oklahoma, probably never updated his profile.

pull the thermostat to eliminate a large air pocket or sticking closed thermostat as the cause.

 

You wouldn't want to be driving with no thermostat but it's fine to test without it.
The point of all the fiddlefaddle I recommended is to eliminate all the easy, external causes for Musker's symptoms. Understandably, he doesn't want to assume the worst without proof and that's what this process would do.

 

Bummer I'm in surprise and would have been happy to help.

I must have missed the part about pulling it only for testing. Shouldn't be a problem but don't leave it like that.

 

So its possible that the high temps and volcano coolant effect were from a sticking thermostat?

I can't use the no-spill funnel to try to eliminate any pockets until I have that sorted out, I assume.

As far as testing the water pump I think I would take it to a shop since I wouldn't know what to feel for in bearings or observe in weep hole.

I'm going to test with no thermostat
If both hoses are hot, and temps are low, then I'll burp system with no-spill funnel

If still having issues, Next pressure check whole system
If still having issues, then will take to shop to check water pump
If still having issues, coolant seals likely?

If anything, starting with burping, fixes the issues I can pay this to rest and assume I found the problem, right?

 

You'll probably pay a shop more to check the water pump than if you just bought a new one and put it on yourself.

And yes, the thermostat could very well be the Big Bad here, removing it will tell.
Also, constantly nagging in the background is the casually mentioned- then kind of ignored- fact that you have a leaky radiator. Depending on the leak, it probably isn't the major player here but even so...replace the damn thing.

 

Here's the thing. What do you expect a shop to "check" on your water pump? More than likely they will pressure test and look for leaks. You mentioned you had a leak around the radiator. I will all but guarantee that they will require you to replace your radiator, at shop prices of course, and then say the will recheck. The only things to check on a water pump is if it has loose/worn bearings, and if it leaks.

They will not do any kind of flow testing because, quite frankly, there really aren't any tools designed to do that. Sure, they can pop a heater hose off and douche the shop floor, but that doesn't prove anything.

You sound well meaning, but inexperienced and in over your head. You must fix all of your leaks first. Period. Air intrusion anywhere, even at the bottom of a rad can potentially cause an air pocket to form. Go rent a pressure tester and test the damn thing. Next, get yourself a spill free funnel and fill the coolant up and get the air bled out. Since you are having issues, pull one of the coolant hoses off of the throttle body to purge air out It's one of the higher points in the engine. Now, you can have the t-stat in or out. It doesn't matter at this point. But make sure you did the above after you installed all of the hoses and such.

Button it all up, leave the funnel on with the plug removed and start the car. Let it idle with the heat on full hot with the fan on. I suspect you got a bad/wrong t-stat, but you want to monitor the coolant level. If it drops and drains the funnel, fill it about 1/4 the way up and look for air bubbles. The occasional bubble as it bleeds is normal. If you get a constant stream of little bubbles with the engine running, you may have a bad coolant seal. Don't burn yourself too. Going to the hospital sucks.

Once both upper and lower hoses are hot, the heater hoses are hot, and the gauge is at a normal level you might be ok. When a car overheats that fast and volcanos coolant, that means you have an air pocket and are low on coolant. You didn't get all of the air out. The engine may be toast from all of the futz-in around that has already happened too. Hopefully not though.

 

Parked it in the garage and relaxed in AZ over the holidays, now I've relaxed enough to try to tackle this.

I bought and changed the thermostat with the seemingly correct part. Changed lower rad hose, filled up with mix (needed over half a gallon) and did like Aaron Cake said as I filled up (pumping lower rad hose while covering the fill area). Now car is operating perfectly, won't go over 1/4 of temp gauge

I bought a Koyo Rad in good condition but wanted to change the T Stat and test before doing that, and that seems to have eliminated the over heating issue. Hopefully changing the radiator will eliminate the leak issue.

Drove it and lots of power.

Thanks for all the help dudes.

 

Good to know that you got it fixed.

 

Make sure you burp it again after that new radiator lol