overcooling

[Dragon]

My vehicle is correct in all cooling areas. In the summer here when the air temp hits high 90s in May and 100s in June off and on and stays in the low 100s until late August, High 90 in September and 70s in late October. With asphalt temps in the 160 range by 10 AM a 195 thermostat will roast your FE. I know these temps because in my work I need a infrared Thermo-gauge to test motors, Xformers and HVAC equipment it is in the truck at all times. You can cook a turkey under the hood!

I automatically change old heater cores, temp valve, thermostat and hoses whenever I buy a new truck I also have the radiator core cleaned. So I know that is good.

As for the gauge, on another post I told how to test Ford gauges. You get a volt Ohm meter. Make sure the Voltage Regulator(VR)/Voltage chopper puts out 5 volts not 4.6 or 5.4 it must be 5 volts. Hook the side that goes to the sensor to a 10 ohm 1/2 watt resistor the gauge will swing to max when the VR is hooked to the other side of the gauge. For full low a 73 ohm 1/2 watt resistor replaces the 10 ohm one. This covers the Fuel level, oil pressure and water temp gauge. All but my gas gauge is calibrated to that original setting. It is next.

in Colorado and Alaska they sell radiator blankets because of the intense cold. We almost have Colorado winters here without the snow.

[cdherman]

I automatically change old heater cores, temp valve, thermostat and hoses whenever I buy a new truck I also have the radiator core cleaned. So I know that is good.

I will repeat, a lower temp thermostat does NOT make the engine produce less heat. ( law of thermodynamics) So if all of the above are functional,and you are actually boiling over or blowing out coolant, then most likely you have a partially blocked passage somewhere in the old girl.

The thermostat sees the average temp of all the heated coolant coming out of an engine. Normally, with good flow through all the passages, the coolant in those passages is pretty close to the temp of the thermostat. But if a passage gets partially blocked, the water slows down and temps rise. You get a hot spot.

It is possible that the cooler water in a 180 deg system will give less trouble if you have some coolant flow issues in the engine. 10 or 15 degrees might just make the difference.

A good flush of the engine might solve it as well, but often the corrossion from years of poor coolant maintanance is permanent and gets removed only in the hot tank before a rebuild.

I just hate to see the myth perpetuated that the solution to every "hot" engine is a cooler thermostat. Its a bandaid that only sometimes works and even then, won't work forever.

[Dragon]

You can keep arguing with me but I am not blocked anywhere in my cooling systems and yes there are laws of Thermodynamics at work here.

I never said I was over heating. I am under cooling like the original poster. After a 30 degree morning we hit 68 here and my heater felt normal. At 30 degrees the cardboard helps overcome that severe cooling of my radiator. At 68 it restricts too much flow.

The engine lives in cold weather and by the time the water gets to the heater core and mixes with the incoming 30 degree air there is a sever temperature loss, what is 180 at the inlet hose on the radiator is 75 going into the engine bottom. The thermostat will close because the engine does not heat water that much in a free flowing condition at low power levels. So the thermostat closes until the temp rises. That is not an indication of clogging it is the opposite. The engine water going to the heater comes off the manifold right above the thermostat and goes back to the temp valve then to the core and back into the pump. If that flow is reversed the heater will get cool inlet water and the cab water will be cold instead of hot or warm.

[Joshpow]

Mine definately isn't just an incorrect gauge either. The gauge reading matches the reading on my thermometer radiator cap. It also has no heat, so I know it isn't getting as hot as it should. Beats me. I never thought I'd complain about a vehicle running cool!

[Dragon]

Try the cardboard trick and see the if the engine heats up.

Here is my set up the thermostat is set at 180 so there is no fan cooling if the outlet of the radiator is below 180.

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edit: 105.66 at Checker.

[fordman]

just put in a new heater core, and now the engine temp wont even get up to operating temp. the heat coming out is warm but my gauge wont crack 120-130 degrees.pulled the stat but checked out fine.replaced it anyway ,still low temperature.its not the gauge as you can touch engine and tell its not very hot after a driving. its always maintained a good 180 degree-190 degree reading.whats-up?

i think its probably what everyone else is saying. the thermostat is stuck open. it can happen. i had a piece of plastic junk stick my minivan stat open once. i removed the plastic piece and the heater started getting warm again.

[70shortwide]

ive seen thermostats that were bad right out of the box. so even if its new it could still be bad