Changed my thermostat today. Pretty easy really. The second rubber seal had come loose and was restricting movement of the thermostat. Problem solved!

 

I've changed my thermostat but its still running in the lower 170's to 168 and eventually flat lines the temp gauge and cuts off the A/C.

When installing the thermostat, does it just sit on top of the housing, or do you have to wedge it down into some grove???

Also, I've done this before when I first got the car, and replaced the temperature sensor. I'm at my wits end.

 

Howdy Franksb255 - check post # 10 in this thread by Biker Ken - he had the same situation where the temp would not rise to normal operating temps after changing the thermostat - and he had to BURP the system - the post gives all the details.

I can't remember how the thermostat sits in there, but I expect there would be no special trick to it all.

 

whopper. Thanks for the reply. I'm going to BURP the system when I get off work. I thought I did a good job refilling the coolant, letting the engine idle for a while and trying to get as much in as possible.

Reading up on Burping, it seems to take a long while, and I also read a good note of jacking the front end up some.

Hopefully this works, otherwise I'm considering replacing the temperature sensor again.

Last night I even thought maybe I had to much water in the water/dex cool ratio, so I drained out as much would come out of the petcok and then refilled with straight dex cool, not 50/50. Still running in the 170s.

 

There was a post a while back about trash stuck in a new thermostat. Seems the owner changed their thermostat. The new one wouldn't let the engine heat up. They took it back out and found a piece of the old thermostat rubber seal wedged in the new thermostat. That "trash" just kept the new thermostat wedged in the open position and wouldn't allow the engine to heat up properly.
Just something you may want to consider.

 

Good memory there firemangeorge.

 

Naw, the mixture being off would not make a change to the temperature like what you are experiencing.

This may help to test the sensor if you have an OHM meter: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how...r#.UgQEeX9rYv0

I don't know what the actual resistance one should be seeing on the temp sensors the HHRS use. would be handy to have that info posted here.

 

Running more than 50/50 DexCool is dangerous!

The new t-stat should have a rubber gasket around the outside, that fits snugly into the t-stat housing then the t-stat cover goes over it. If you are missing that gasket or got it twisted it will cause a problem. If missing you will probably have a puddle under the car.

I'll try to see if Mitchell has a spec.

 

I can't seem to find any specs on the ECT. It is probably a thermocouple device, which would put out a voltage in the mV range. Resistance is futile.

 

Okay. News. Got a new temperature sensor at Oreilys. Didn't drain the coolant anywhere before replacing the sensor, so I lost about 1/2 -1 quart of coolant. New sensor in, a little dex cool straight into the coolant fill port. Made sure my coolant extra tank was filled to the cool line.

Crank it up and it reaches temperature rather quickly. Drive around the block and it's running at 185 degrees. I'm not touching it anymore and we'll see how it does on the 20 mile drive to work in the morning.

No burping, just pretty sure I had a funked temperature sensor.