put your thermostat back in and see what happens. running with no thermostat can cause an engine to overheat because first the coolant don't absorb the heat from the engine because it is circulating too fast. After awhile the coolant will begin to absorb the heat and then it will show up on the temprature guage as running hot but will never cool back down because it is circulating so fast through the radiator that it doesnt' have time to cool. So since your in Alaska drop in a 195 degree thermostat and you should be good.