Showing overheating

[Bowers]

Gonna throw this one out there
Temp gauge is showing overheating even though the coolant level is topped off. No steam and no leaks from any hoses. Gauge climbs all the way to the right within 5 min of driving. Any ideas?
Also took the cap off and let it idle and the coolant is swirling.
Thanks

[WHITE AND RED 69]

How new is the water pump and thermostat? Could be a bad temp gauge or sending unit? Throw a mechanical gauge on there and see what the temp reads compared to the stock gauge.  

Could also have an air pocket in the system, raise the front end and let it run with the cap off to let out any trapped air.

[BLK 68 R/T]

Also check the bottom radiator hose and make sure it is not all soft and squishy. It may be sucking closed when the rpms are up while driving but appear fine when idling. It should have a spring inside the hose to prevent that,  but most of the hoses these days do not come with the spring anymore from what I have seen.

Wes

[Bowers]

Thanks,
Gonna throw a heat reader on it today to check the temperature. The thermostat and water pump should be about 6yrs old. Will do a check on the bottom hose.

[Stegs]

yea mechanical gauge would be the thing to do

I always went by the factory gauge for oil pressure....i was always between 30-40 lbs driving


I redid my motor and put a mechanical gauge on there also.....

The factory gauge shows 30-40 like always, mechanical shows 50lbs

i trust the new mechanical gauge .....Im going to do a temp gauge too

[fy469rtse]

Also could be the combination of water pump parts , check out the thread on cooling .
some interesting results on what we would all assume would be better parts

[HPP]

...and is the lower hose larger than the upper hose? Have the pulleys been changed at all? Do you have a shroud? Is this occurring during driving or during stop light idling?

[Bowers]

Looks like a bad ground in the cluster. All temps and components are working great.