Great insight RedFish. I will look for the solid state limiter. Please message me if you have a link to the one you used. Although my original still works I would like to eliminate any issue going forward. Back of my mind I've marveled at the success of the simple mechanical design. If it were to get stuck on 12v I would assume it to be a $250 trip at the auto part store. Like I noted earlier, the limiter was too short of a cycle to get an accurate reading with my multimeter so I only confirmed with a lightbulb that the cycle has a constant cadence.
I'm pulling the thermostat today to see what is happening in the vicinity of the sensor, and will test the sensor in a can of hot water to see if I can get a reading. DartLarry's message above has me thinking I'm getting air in the system causing an air pocket at the thermostat. I can't thank you gentlemen enough for your generous help. At 20 years old I only have the internet and people like you to get these types of things solved.
I'm at the 'shinny new tool box' part of my life and the best source is still the 'slightly rusty Craftsman tool box with super smooth roller drawers' kind of guys like you make it happen.