Odd "Overheating" issue...Little Help please?

Morning Guys,

Have an odd issue going on, and not sure if i fixed it or not.

07 hemi, 90K miles

My temp gauge deflected slightly to the "H" side the other day, and was accompanied by antifreeze smell, and even a small "leak" that i still haven't exactly sourced.

So after noticing that even with the truck at "temp", the fuild was not circulating in the radiator, visually, with the cap off. So I make the determination that thermostat may be failed, or stuck partially closed. upper hose is hot, going into the thermostat...and the bottom hose is luke warm at best.

pull t-stat. and throw in a pot of boiling water. opens only maybe 1/16 inch. So I get a new one. Test it first, it opens maybe 1/2 inch. So i install it. Get truck to temp. Still no visual fluid circulation? I do know it circulated some(after driving)...as it burbed the air bubbles out, and mixed the antifreeze, and the level is normal.

So here is my weird issue that makes me thing there is more to it?...
pass side of radiator and hose are still luke warm at best.

Temp gauge is fine? (1/4 inch to cool side). during 15 min drive, needle flirted with the middle line for maybe 3 seconds...then deflected back down (t-stat opened maybe)?

no more leak or antifreeze smell.

Heater works

Drove it to work this morning maybe 25 mins, and when i got here, i still have a cold radiator to the touch.

are these things THAT efficient that the radiator hardly even holds heat? Or do i have a manual blockage near my outlet that is fooling me, and the gauge, into thinking all is well?

the only hot thing in the engine bay is the upper hose. everything else feels cool...

also whatever "******" i had the other day when it got slightly hot has stopped...

would i be foolish to think it just backed up pressure from the stuck t-stat, and that it just pushed some fluid out the tank/to core seam? and it'll magically be ok now that its not getting as hot?

Sorry for the long winded story,

Maybe someone can keep an eye on their gauge for me tonight and see if it ever deflects to the middle?

and maybe after driving for 1/2 hour..someone can put a hand on the passenger side tank, and lower hose and see how hot or cold it is?

I'm not convinced i "fixed" the problem. This cold radiator has me spooked.

thanks all

so apparently no-one read this, or bothered giving input, so i'll use it to document my findings.

wifes 2016 charger with a 5.7 hemi also is VERY hot after being driven. both hoses in and out, and both tanks, driver and pass are hot. noted that the inlet/outlet are reversed on the cars. also F-fans.

my drive home was uneventful...no defects noted. approx 20 mins...but again...one very hot hose, and one cold hose. one hot tank, one cold tank.

replacement OEM radiator all of $90... somewhat universal flex-a-lite is $600...

will keep driving it i guess...

I'd reckon it was just a stuck thermostat. The best way to truly test out the cooling system is to park it in the driveway and let it idle until it gets up to temp. Once it gets up to temp, push the throttle so it's hitting about 1500 rpm. Keep it there for a while and see if it will hold a normal temp.

If it's currently running correctly, I definitely wouldn't change anything.

Thats kind of where im at I guess. I dont like at all that I have a notably cold radiator, and that I have yet to see the fluid circ with the cap off....but the gauge is normal, and half hour drives arent blowing the hoses off. Idling also doesn't appear to hurt it (like the impeller fell off or something) antifreeze looks clean. Will Keep on truckin...pun intended lol

Just an update for anyone that comes across this in the future.

Truck is running fine, and a stuck thermostat was in fact my only culprit.
Have taken several long trips with the gauge only deflecting to probably 45% deflection (50 being half)

only issue now is the stuck thermostat caused a pin-hole somewhere in my radiator. rather than gunk up my system with stop leak, i ordered a new radiator. I'll install that shortly.