After I did a full coolant flush last week, I noticed that my upper radiator hose seemed more full than usual. When the car was warmed up, I couldn't squeeze it. It felt full. Before I flushed the coolant, even when the car was 220*, I could squeeze the radiator hose. It felt mostly full but it was still squeezable and sure enough I could hear air in the overflow tank. Now, the radiator hose feels full and thick but not expanded in size. The heater still worked, so I assumed coolant was flowing (if I recall correctly turning on the heater pulls coolant on top of the thermostat quicker and allows it to open quicker.

Today, I replaced what was suppose to be a Stant 180* thermo (I'm 99% sure the autoparts store gave me a 195*) with a Mr. Gasket 180*. The car is definitely running cooler and I drove it for 15 minutes after I replaced the thermo and topped off coolant. That being said when the car was warm the upper radiator hose still felt full and thick but no signs of expansion. Heater worked perfectly. Was I just driving with low coolant for too long? The overflow tank was always at Full Cold but I'll admit I haven't opened the radiator cap as much as I should have... I'll make it a habit now, like I do with the dip stick. I'm guessing this is normal?

Also what is the scale for the stock temp gauge? I know it's not super accurate but both my gauge and temp sender are less than a year old. With my old thermostat and my Stant thermostat, when the car was warmed up and at highway speeds the needle was in between the first dash (180?) and 220. I'm guessing this 195 or so. Using my temp gun on the the temp sender usually read 195-205 and the temp gun on the water outlet read the same.

Now with the Mr. gasket the needle is right below or on that first dash and the temp gun on the sender reads 180-185 and on the water outlet reads 165-170 (this is with the upper radiator hose full.

 

Is it possible your radiator is clogged up a bit from the flush? Did you reverse flush the radiator? If the thermostat is open and the pump is pumping water into the radiator and the radiator is restricted, that could cause high pressure on that hose which would make it hard to squeeze. If your radiator was not clogged before the flush, then the flow from the pump could easily move through it and it would not build up a lot of pressure.

 

It could be. When I pulled the cap off, I didn't see anything but that doesn't mean anything. I wonder if when I did the flush I moved something from another part of the cooling system into the radiator and that's causing a clog?

From what you are saying does it sound like a clog or restriction in my radiator/upper hose? Should the upper hose always be easy to squeeze no matter how hot it is?

Also I didn't reverse flush the radiator. I didn't see it any of the YouTube videos I watched.

Basically what I did was drain the coolant from the radiator, drain the coolant from the knock sensor (I couldn't find the other coolant plug on the drivers side) and I drained the coolant from the temp sender in the head. I filled the radiator up with a gallon of distilled water, started the car, turned on the heater added the blue devil flush and other 3 gallons. Drove around for 20 minutes with the heater on. Drained everything again. Filled with 4 more gallons of distilled water. Drove for 20 more minutes. Drained everything again.

Then filled with two gallons of pure coolant and two of distilled water.

Should I just flush the radiator gain?

 

I checked the upper rad hose again after I let the car cold soak. I could squeeze it but I still felt a somewhat decent amount of water inside and the over flow tank was only at full cold.
I think I am going to flush just radiator to be cautious and go a head and replace the Upper rad hose with a new Gates. I replaced the lower six months ago, so I should replace the upper.

 

How could you pass "something" from the eng side to the radiator? It would have to pass thru the thermostat first. If "it" broke up into small enough pieces to pass there would have to be a lot of the to clog the radiator enough to block flow, idk. Also when cold the stat is closed, so not a lot of water is flowing into the radiator, till the stat opens.
As well, the hose/s should be soft to squeeze when cold, but as the water heats up it expands.This causes pressure to build in the system. Making the hoses feel "hard" when squeezed.This should is normal, even as the rad cap opens and allows water to flow into the expansion tank.The hoses will be fairly firm to squeeze, until pressure drop back down.