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General Information => General => Topic started by: Smokey Eddy on March 17, 2009, 07:11:23 pm
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I thought the T-stat i got was an 87 degree thermostat.
While im driving the needle will stay steadily just a hair past the 2nd last white line on my gauge (so, one line hotter than middle)
I have this terrible feeling all the time that my dash is about to buzz but my oil temp is fine. it's a little warm i guess? 180-190F roughly.
Are there T-stats for our beauties that will open at like 95? or something.
Anyone else with a gauge that reads as high as mine?
The temp light no longer flashes now a couple hundred K's after rebuild which pleases me. But now the batt light is cooonnnstantly on. :roll: go figure. Perhaps its the V regulator which i will hope and pray for.
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I have an 87° thermostat in my gasser. This is where the needle rides.
(http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i98/codymckay/Car%20Stuff/A695EC6A-C044-15FF-29CF6F2FDDDE220A.jpg)
I've seen thermostats listed that are 82°,87°,90° and 92°. I used to have a 90° in mine and it rode roughly straight up and down.
I wouldn't worry too much about your oil temps as they sound like they are right in the ball park. Do you have an oil cooler?
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I have an oil cooler that i haven't put in...
This is where MY needle resides and sits very steadily under heavy and no load..
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f279/edmcclung/modify.jpg)
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I wouldn't worry about it too much. Those are 20 year old gauges/wires/senders. Mine runs just on the other side of that white line Ed, and it's always happy.
Get a real gauge and see what's what.
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my gauge sat near where you point to ed when i had a 'faulty' thermostat. i should have checked the opening temperature before installation. when i finally ripped it out and tested it, it was opening at near boil :shock: so i installed an '87 and it sat just below halfway, and was running fine.
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Dang man. I tested mine first to see IF it opened ... i didn't test at what temp.
It's a brand new sender sending to the gauge so ... perhaps the T-stat is junk? I don't really want to drive around and wait for it to get stuck closed :P THAT would suck. Thanks guys.
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perhaps the T-stat is junk?
It's possible. I had one that was dead straight out of the box. :evil:
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perhaps the T-stat is junk?
It's possible. I had one that was dead straight out of the box. :evil:
What a load!
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rip it out and throw it in a pot ED.
:) a Good project. Lots of fun :P
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My friend who is a Mastercraft certified mechanic put a Tstat in upside down on one of his own :D I let him hear it all the time, becuase a friend of ours caught it before he stuck the engine in.
Every one of my diesels and the GTI runs exactly where your gauge did though...I think it is the guage, and that is why I am going with something with #s on it for the TD. #s usually don't lie. Not saying that these do, but there is no way to tell what your coolant is at. The line you have could be 220 degrees or it could be 180 you just don't know.
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Yes I agree. It is worrying though.
Will the coolant light start to blink above a certain temp?
I blew a HG before the needle hit the last line once and im very afraid of that happening again. The oil doesn't get too hot. And I can't hear boiling under the hood after shutting it off.
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Yes I agree. It is worrying though.
Will the coolant light start to blink above a certain temp?
I blew a HG before the needle hit the last line once and im very afraid of that happening again. The oil doesn't get too hot. And I can't hear boiling under the hood after shutting it off.
i doubt the coolant light will blink until the gauge is the whole way over. when my engine overheated i don't recall seeing it blink... but it might have.
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should i get a 70, 80, 87 or 92 T-stat? :P With summer coming up... im going to say definitely not the 92.
70 seems really really low.
debating between 87 and 80...
I may want to go on some road trips which would include going up the coke. (BC'ers know what im talking about ;) )
In THAT case I'd be more comfortable with an 80... but the different between 80 and 87 is so large... i'd really like an 84 or 85 :P hahahah
87 it is i think but folks, please include your input. Would 80 be too cold for fuel economy sake?
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80 wouldn't be too bad, but i'd say go with '87 + a coolant temp additive. that will keep your temps very stable.
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Cheers man, i'll do that :)
Mine was an 87, it must be faulty.
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I am having this issue as well! Its killing me :(
I have installed new rad, hoses, water pump, 3 thermostats, overflow tank, coolant sensors, overflow sensor, thermofan switch.......
car runs EXACTLY how OP said. upper rad hose is hot, lower is cool, Fan never comes on. Uses no coolant, and no oil.
Any answers?
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I am having this issue as well! Its killing me :(
I have installed new rad, hoses, water pump, 3 thermostats, overflow tank, coolant sensors, overflow sensor, thermofan switch.......
car runs EXACTLY how OP said. upper rad hose is hot, lower is cool, Fan never comes on. Uses no coolant, and no oil.
Any answers?
If the upper rad hose is hot, and the lower is not.. does this not make you think the coolant is not getting through the rad?? If you have checked everything but the rad itself, i would guess a blockage.
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yeah that sounds definitely like a blockage... everything should feel hot to our sensitive hands. even the "cold" side of the rad.
the gauge in the dash could just be faulty... or do you have over heating problems?
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this is a new rad. no blockage. I thought that is what it was, but that has been eliminated.
what would you classify as overheating. no coolant bubbling, but upper hose is slightly pressurized.
could it be the thermostat again?
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does the gauge simply just read higher than you want?...
if so then i'd stop wasting your money. the gauges are old... tired... don't work 100% accurate.
Get an external one if you're worried about it. or run a 70 degree T-stat.
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the gauge will fluctuate from normal to really hot in a few min. The strange thing is that the heat from the heater does the same thing. When the gauge reads hot, the heater output is scorching. The fan never comes on, but has been jumper tested and works. should the lines be slightly pressurized?
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uh-oh... Head gasket?
these are all tell-tale signs aren't they Ed? :P
pressurized hoses, loss of heater heat, gauge going crazy, rad not getting hot. But you said it doesnt use coolant or oil.... Hmm Still could be a HG... if it were putting enough air in the system to cause the liquid to not move around
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Yes.
well if it's not over heating then i don't know what the issue is?
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I have no problem with driving my car the way it is now. the oil isn't above normal temp.
If it really concerns you you can very easily (even just temporarily) rig up a water temp gauge and drive around with it.
EDIT: Oh YES Jer, well spotted. Does the temp light flash? does the reservoir seem to drain?
The hoses will always be hard under normal driving conditions.
but honestly, i'd get a gauge on there with numbers and see what is really going on.
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the gauge will fluctuate from normal to really hot in a few min. The strange thing is that the heat from the heater does the same thing. When the gauge reads hot, the heater output is scorching. The fan never comes on, but has been jumper tested and works. should the lines be slightly pressurized?
You need to get an accurate definition of "really hot". Mine runs between 5/8 and 3/4 on the factory temp gauge and never overheats (other than the one time the water pump belt was slipping in a thunderstorm). My fan rarely ever comes on. Hot coolant goes into the rad. If the rad is very efficient, what comes out won't be very warm. My rad outlet hose only feels hot on warm summer days when I've been beating on it. On mine, the fan only comes on in the summer and even then not often except for stop and go traffic. At this time of year the thermostat only seems to open for brief periods, lets a little coolant through the rad to drop the temps, and then either closes partially or fully. The fact that your heater temp is fluctuating indicates to me that something in your system is dropping the coolant temperature, which I can only see as being the rad or even the heater itself. On cold days when I'm running my heater, the temp can drop below my "normal" range and the heater output will drop but the rad never sees flow. If your rad is taking enough heat out of the coolant, your fan may not ever need to come on. These type of problems are when I miss the rads that have a cap on the rad itself. You can leave the cap off and visually see when you have flow through the rad. Upper hose should be slightly pressurized as most cooling systems pressurize to about 16-18 pounds.
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Yeah I don't think I have ever heard my rad fan come on. My gauge usually runs at the last white mark on a late mk2.
When I get home today after work I'll try to remember to grab my rad hoses and see what they are doing
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Don't burn your self tyler!!!
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ok, so I drained my coolant again (5th time) and decided to check my thermostat. I also purchased 2 other thermostats for good measure. I bought two motorad stats a 160, 180 deg(71, 82 deg ) and compared them to my other new thermostat (which was in the car) a WAHLER 188 deg (87deg). For the record, the Wahler thermostat is 10X the quality of the motorad products. the opening is at least 1.5 X the diameter and the overall construction is far superior. It makes me sad that it was not operating in the rated range. I wonder if the later opening is caused by the much larger preload springs on the Wahler?
I put a pot of water on the stove and put all three thermostats in and watched when each of them opened. The 160deg opened at around 170 and was full open at about 185deg. The 180 started opening at around 185 and was fully open at 195. The 188 deg opened at around 205 and was fully opened well after boil.
I think this could be my issue. I am going to swap out to the 160deg and see if my gauge reads back in the normal range.
Thanks for all the help.
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ok, so I drained my coolant again (5th time) and decided to check my thermostat. I also purchased 2 other thermostats for good measure. I bought two motorad stats a 160, 180 deg(71, 82 deg ) and compared them to my other new thermostat (which was in the car) a WAHLER 188 deg (87deg). For the record, the Wahler thermostat is 10X the quality of the motorad products. the opening is at least 1.5 X the diameter and the overall construction is far superior. It makes me sad that it was not operating in the rated range. I wonder if the later opening is caused by the much larger preload springs on the Wahler?
I put a pot of water on the stove and put all three thermostats in and watched when each of them opened. The 160deg opened at around 170 and was full open at about 185deg. The 180 started opening at around 185 and was fully open at 195. The 188 deg opened at around 205 and was fully opened well after boil.
I think this could be my issue. I am going to swap out to the 160deg and see if my gauge reads back in the normal range.
Thanks for all the help.
i had the same problem as you. $30 thermostat from the dealer.. i'll never do that again :roll: my cars temp would climb wayyy too high! in the winter its nice to have gobs of heat though... but maybe only for those less than -20C days/nights???
i went to c-tire and bought a 192F t-stat, confirmed that it was opening in the right range with boiling water, and i've never had a problem since.
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Since I run WVO-warm is good. I have the hottest thermostat I can get (195?) My temp gauge runs at the 3/4 mark all the time-except the 20 mile stretch of hiway where it might drop down on the coldest days. I have a cover blocking my radiator also. Funny thing-i pull the cover off the grill this time of year the water temp doesnt change-but my (veg) oil temp drops. And my fan also will only come on in stop+ go traffic on the hottest day.
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I'll be changing mine soon too with this warmer weather.
stupid little things can cause so much damage.