Hey everybody! I'm fresh to the forum here and am stoked I found it. I'm really out of the loop on what support there is out there for me and my truck so I'm wicked happy I found this.

Aside from that, here's what's goin on: I've got a '90 V6 that I love to damn pieces. The truck is a tank, a representation of true, tough, durable crafstmanship. He's gotten me through everything and anything, even when there's been problems. Now, I like to do all the repairs myself. I don't want to pay anybody if I don't have to, obviously. I'm going to be taking him on a cross-country road trip from California back home to Maine. But the latest and greatest problem has hinted that it's there and not going away.

Essentially, when I'm driving on the highway and come to a stop, either in traffic or exiting to drive city streets here, the temperature gauge starts to rise. Usually, it sits a nice 1/8 of an inch or so above the first yellow rectangle. When it gets to the top of the second one, I rev it to about 3000 rpm which then cools the engine off and then everything is ok, if I start driving, traffic-permitting of course... My intuition is leaning towards a water pump issue.

Here's what I've done prior to this issue to help alleviate some of the stress:

1) replaced the original radiator
2) replaced the hoses
3) replaced the thermostat
4) flushed the system

Now, I noticed that when I parked the truck, the reservoir, which was full at the beginning of the trip, was bone dry. Unfortunately, I have neglected to check if the reservoir filled back up any as work tends to distract me quite a bit, but I doubt it has. I have seen a pool of coolant before in the skid plate, dripping from the block close to the water pump. I want to say that the seals have gone and that the water pump might be rusted internally because I know the system was full of rusty crud. But I really cannot say for sure. I don't want to buy parts that I may not necessarily need.

ANY ADVICE OR TIPS OR KNOWLEDGE? Thanks!