Coolant temp - the answer?

[PoshSnoop]

So, I see an awful lot of "too hot, what up?" threads in this forum after old truck users like myself plug in a ScanGauge II and look at the coolant temp. I, too, run 202-209 F regularly on my used truck. Looking at the discussions, this sequence for diagnostics and fixin's is what I see. Corrections? Adjustments? Improvements?

1. Burp the thing. Just burp it. wait til it's cold. lift the front end. remove the radiator cap. turn on the heaters. run it until it warms up. add properly mixed coolant as the fluid level drops down. good to go? If not, then...
2. Dig into that thermostat. Buy an OEM thermostat for thousands of dollars from your local Toyota dealer (ok, it's really $30 with a $9 gasket), rotate the hole to 6 o'clock, new gasket, burp it buddy. burp it.
3. what? still hot? new water pump. is it weeping? old, buddy, old. throw it out, go OEM.
4. No go? replace the radiator. flush the system... a lot. flush it. new radiator. burp that thing, bud. burp it. I said burp it!
5. Eejit. you need a discrete tranny cooler. do that, too. get on with it. Hah! but which one? one's better than the other, right? pink milkshake scare and all. new tranny cost big buckus. oh, add a magnafine filter and various ATF temp sensors and gauges.

is that about it? is that the sequence for things to try? I'm asking because I'm on the verge of starting the sequence by driving up on a curb and burping it, buddy, burping it real good.

 

[Brilliant]

I would probably put my hand on different spots on the radiator to be sure it was flowing before doing any of the above.

 

[PoshSnoop]

cool. or hot... so, step one is warm the truck up, check for hot and cool zones on upper, lower hoses, various zones on radiator - top, bottom, fins, ATF hoses. think about findings. don't shred hand in fan. indications can be: a) thermostat opening a little higher than operating temp; b) plugged up radiator? c) what else?

 

[pluton]

cool. or hot... so, step one is warm the truck up, check for hot and cool zones on upper, lower hoses, various zones on radiator - top, bottom, fins, ATF hoses. think about findings. don't shred hand in fan. indications can be: a) thermostat opening a little higher than operating temp; b) plugged up radiator? c) what else?

Also, beside all this, is there a possibility that the coolant temp sensor involved(the one for the computer, right?) could be off? I know that I've had, on a previous Toyota truck, a gauge temp sensor that was off...in that case it read cooler than reality, which I thought dangerous in case actual overheating should occur.