tpluttig

Greetings all,
I've got a real "bean scratcher" of a situation I could use some help with.

I recently had some mechanical difficulties with my '94 4-cyl. pickup (4WD,MTX). I lost the drive belt for the alt./water pump. I managed to get it limped back home but it was overheating pretty badly as one can imagine. Thank God it was only about 10 degrees outside! It also appeared that I drove it far enough to fry the battery as well but that's another story.

So here's my question/dilemma...
I got a new belt on it. At first, it ran hot to the point of overheating & I wasn't getting any heat in the cab. I let it cool down & checked the fluid level & bled the system. Then the engine temperature gauge was reading a little on the hot side but within limits & I had heat inside. Then, it started running really hot again but I still had heat. So I picked up a new thermostat thinking the other one got cooked. I took it out again today for a test ride to see what it would do and now it seems to be running a little under temperature but with plenty of heat inside.

I have to admit the I'm not much of a mechanic. One thing that seems strange to though is that the lower rad hose isn't getting hot. Is this the way it should be or do I have something else going on here? I guess I thought the hose would be almost as hot as the upper. One other oddity I noticed is that the control lever for selecting fresh air or recirculating doesn't seem to work any more either. Any possiblities that these are related? I don't know if the sensor got smoked & that's why it's all over the place? Is there a way to check the coolant temp sensor?

If anyone has a suggestion on where to look or I should be concerned about larger problems, please do let me know. If there's one thing in life I have a hard time dealing with, it automobile problems. Thanks in advance.