Well its all fixed. So messing with the EZ steer bar between my kicker and main outdrive, I must have kinked the hose or there was actually something wrong with the impeller even though it looked fine. Thats what caused the overheat to 200ish while trolling on the main in big waves. Then I put in a 160 t-stat without realizing the old one was a 140 (hence the 175 to 180 idle). So replacing the power steering cooler and engine water pump wasnt 100% necessary, but it was time. The check balls were also pretty scored up. So yesterday I replaced the entire checkball assembly and put in a 140 t-stat and drilled 2 small holes in it. Now it idles all day long at the prior 155 to 160 range. Thank you to everyone for the suggestions!
