The Mighty 258 > Cooling System
Engine too cold
MIPS:
I'm trying to find the receipt from the shop when they reinstalled my engine but I swear it mentioned that they installed a new thermostat.
Now that we're below 0c during the day I'm noticing that the car is awful at keeping warm. Normally I'm out in the morning, unplug the block heater, crank it and I'm off and by the time I'm on the highway the needle is halfway up and then the thermostat opens and everything's happy.
Now I hit the highway and I'm another 3 or 4km down the highway before it reaches 1/4 up the gauge, then the thermostat opens and starts regulating the coolant temperature barely above the C on the gauge. The heater is weak and defrosting takes forever.
The engine isn't getting hot enough. At this point the TAC switch is pulling intake air over the exhaust stove but the exhaust manifold is cold enough that I'll pull up to my first light ten minutes later and the intake air temp is still too cold for closed loop. You have to sit there for a minute or two hot soaking before it satisfies and drops the RPM's. Sometimes if I'm puttering around town and not loading the engine it gets cold enough again the engine will drop out of closed-loop and kick the idle RPM's back up until it's warm.
What was the OEM temperature rating for the '82 model year?
AMC of Houston:
According to the manuals, should have a 195-degree thermostat.
TheBirdman:
I think 195 is stock, so it sounds like they put in a 160 or something. For an interrim fix, some cardboard in front of the rad would help.
AMC of Houston:
Could just be a junk Chinese replacement T-stat. Chinese junk is, well, Chinese junk! Some of my local car club pals have had trouble lately with replacement T-stats. I turned them on to the Robertshaw-style high-flow T-stats; which seem to be a bit more reliable IMHO.
TheBirdman:
Yeah dont ever cheap out on thermostats, especially when the best ones you can find are around $10. A couple years ago the cheap chinese thermostat that the """motorcraft approved""" rebuilder put in my trucks engine 15 years ago snapped almost completely in half, the engine overheated and cracked both heads.
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