Coolant Temp Too Low?

[TheNeek]

160 degree thermostat installed by previous owner. The needle only gets up to the 1/4 mark on the stock gauge when I'm idling at a light, AC on, in the summer (100+ degrees). Now in the winter I'm a little concerned that the truck never reaches operating temp. Do you all swap out t-stats for the seasons or is this low temp a good thing? I know that never reaching operating temp isn't really all that bad, but it's not ideal. I guess there are two options. The guage is messed up, or the coolant system on my truck is tip top. Thanks for any insight.

 

[NecroWolf]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

you can't really trust all of your factory guages. if you really need to know datamaster or just put a second temp guage on it

 

[turbodog]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

Agree with Garry. If the truck is failing to reach 160, it would indicate the t-stat is stuck open, but hard to judge this from the stock guage. Should reach the t-stat temp regardless of outside temp. Now, some have reported that a 160 t-stat gives inadequate heat from the heater in colder climates in winter, but that's a different problem entirely.

 

[JustBeachin]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

FWIW, my stock gauge, when running a 180 thermostat, reaches about 1/4 way mark, and I've used Diacom, and Datamaster and they both report 180ish temperatures.

 

[TurboJunk]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

the factory guages should be used more as a indicator then a gauge, just make sure the needles in the same place everyday, the day it moves you know something isnt right.

 

[JAY]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

When I was troubleshooting all my temp issues months ago, I purchased a non-contact thermometer $50-100 and pointed it at the housing and watched the temps go up and down to determine which T-stat I had. I thought 160s were too cold?? But I guess in AZ wouldnt be too bad.

 

[Mephisto]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

i remember reading something awhile back about the truck running like crap if the operating temp is too low... sometimes i even wonder about 160* stat being a bit low. maybe this is why some run a 180* instead?

 

[VermontTy]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

I've run a 160 since day one....it was great in the summer, and gave off enough heat during the short winter run to keep me from freezing. As mentioned above, my stock gauge was WAY off; read almost pegged but DM showed 160. The truck will run a little differently at low temperature, simply because of the tables built into the computer for fueling at a certain coolant temp, but I don't think you'll notice the difference to be honest with you.

 

[NecroWolf]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

mine's the same way as vermontty's. mine stays pegged most of the time, and i haven't had the time or patience to track it down but i run a 180 stat and it almost makes enough heat.

 

[TheNeek]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

All good info guys. Much appreciated. The heat into the cab is luke warm at best, but I have heard of heater core problems from searching the boards.

Along the lines of guages and the "problems" people are having with them. The alternator factory gauge (I know I know) flickers up and down when the blinkers are on. I seem to recall this being some sort of grounding problem. Can anyone point me towards chassis ground points on the truck that I could check out for some cleaning?

 

[VermontTy]

Re: Coolant Temp Too Low?

check here, on the last page, I posted where they are...

http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32883

and here.....

http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=31498