Sweet. So Thats not really an overheat then.. Thats good to know. Thank you..

Lou - That is a great idea. If I have time Ill rig someting up tonight.

I just did some poking on that listed Kia site and found a tech note talking bout the T-Stat... I think they sold me the wrong one. There is some kind of two stage I need for the 94/95 and it looks completely different than what I took out and what I put back in...

http://www.kiatechinfo.com/TechInfo/Pitstop/board_view.asp?docu_no=3&page=

Not sure if that link will work. But I have the one that says NEW Style...

What do you guys think?

I can tell you all one thing.... I am really enjoying troubleshooting on this thing. Never thought I would own a KIA... But It's fun to drive. You guys are great and this forum rocks. Thank you all again for all the help. I would not have gotten this far without all of you....

one other inexpensive troubleshooting tip. at napa and i am sure at other parts houses they have something called a cylinder block tester kit.its a syphon bulb that uses a blue liquid that turns yellow when carbon monoxide gases are present in your cooling system. check this out http://www.troubleshooters.com/tlitthypothesis.htm

Dude.... serious i never hear of that before ill check that out tonight. thanks again.

I just finished a cylinder head replacement on my 1995 SOHC Sportage. Your cylinder head can be repaired if has a small crack or two. There are competent machine shops geared up to do such work. You will have to ask around and get several good references. The head set (gaskets, etc) are virtually the same as a 2.0 L Mazda p/u set. The only difference I found was that there was not a proper rocker arm cover gasket (valve cover).I purchased my set from the machine shop that did the head. The set was about $65. The reworked cylinder head, incl. valve lash adjustment(.010" on int. & exh.) was $235. Head bolts are available from the KIA dealer (approx. $5.00 ea). The specs and sequence for torqueing the cylinder head are usually in the head set package.(Use Felpro or Victor if possible) Replace ALL of the hoses when you do the head job. Especially the little hoses under the intake plenums. Almost impossible after the plenum is installed. Replace the timing belt. Replace the water pump and the idler bearing assm as well as the tensioner assm.

Rockauto.com shows that the sohc head set is a Felpro # HS9422PT2 they have 'em for $78.00 + shipping...

leadbelly

Ok sorry I have not followed up on this.. I think its all worked out at this point. It was running pretty good. I ran 2 flush cycles on the cooling system and installed yet another T-Stat. Ran great for days then BANG! Massive hole in the middle of the radiator. Blowing collant everywhere.. I believe I have had a seap leak and that may be why there is expansion room in the coolant causing it to boil over after stopping. So Ill fix that and let you all know how it goes. This car suffers from a serious ammount of minor issues. Thanks again for all the help!

Are you sure your fan didn't fail, they have a nasty history of crapping the bed and taking out the rad with them. They are known to sieze and spit out a bearing into the rad, leaving no visable damage on the fan, but it will feel siezed if you try to free spin it.

For pressure to build up and blow a hole in the rad you will need a pressure source, and for pressure that high a blown head gasket is a likely suspect, and faulty rad cap that prevented the pressure release. Basically there has to be something majorly wrong for enough pressure to build up to blow a hole in a rad core!

If you are planning to buy a new radiator, I suggest the CSF All Steel Radiator on Ebay. It is only $125 shipped and is much stronger than the plastic one. Just FYI.