Help With Over Heating

Hey Guys I’m New Here I have A 2001 Toyota Tundra and I just bought it used and the first day it started overheating (I got scammed) I thought maybe it was the thermostat but still overheating and my oil isn’t milky so I don’t think that it’s my head gasket YET but the only thing I see that is strange is that when I open up my radiator cap it looks like it’s not flowing so please if anybody has the same problem lmk

 

Well, lots of different things it could be but head gasket is certainly a possibility as they can fail in many ways, one of those ways vents exhaust into the coolant which causes overheating. A sure sign of this is bubbles coming out the tube in your coolant reservoir. You can also get a shop to test your coolant for carbon monoxide which can confirm or rule this out.

Radiator fluid will only flow when the thermostat is open so unless you've opened it while hot (!) you won't see anything happening.

Other possibilities are failed water pump (very rare that they don't pump, usually they leak when they fail) or plugged or even dirty radiator. I've had vehicles overheat before simply from too much dirt in them.

Your system could also be airlocked but usually that is only temporary and self clears.

 

It's easy to install the thermostat wrong on these...and new ones have been known to be bad from the get go. Since it's easyish to check, make sure you installed it correctly, if you did, take it out and boil it on a stove to makes sure it opens properly...

https://youtu.be/lDddAPsgG7w?t=90