Have I cooked my 4.0? Epic mistake on long trip

Bammo68 said:
So its been about 3 months and 2000 km since I swapped it all out and I have just returned from a long trip the outback so thought I would update the post in case anyone is interested. I replaced the water pump & thermostat with new parts from RockAuto - put a new eBay aluminium radiator in as well as new upper and lower hoses. Flushed the system 3 or 4 times with distilled water and then new 50/50 green coolant mix. She has been absolutely rock solid ever since - vehicle comes up to operating temperature pretty quickly and then stays rock solid at 195F regardless of what I am doing, whether the A/C is on if we are doing a long hill climb whereas previously it would go up to 210 sometimes on a hard workout. Haven't lost a single drop of coolant and zero complaints. Oil still looks fresh and no sign of any head issues.

I did drill a small hole into the top of the new thermostat as recommended by some. I also replaced the solid feed pipe from the side of the water pump that goes to the heater core with a short length of flexible hose - made getting a proper seal much easier.
Click to expand...

Can you share which radiator you got?
 
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