Water pump?

[chumpchange]

They may be working, but are they accurate.

Any fluid inside the block will exceed the temp of the tstat. (Unless super duper cold out). Assume for a minute your tstat is frozen shut and coolant cannot circulate...you are implying the coolant won't get too hot because it will.

Fluid inside the block heats up to the point it causes the tstat to open and cooler fluid takes the place of the fluid that is too hot. Then the tstat closes and warms the fluid up and repeats the cycle.

A new fan clutch won't warm your engine up, it'll is designed to cool the coolant which in turn keeps the engine at a controlled temp. The temp is controlled by the tstat.

Your coolant sensor should be in the engine block. Either up at the tstat housing or by cylinder 6. Tstats are a very basic mechanical item and rarely are they faulty.

If you take a digital thermometer and point it at the tstat housing when the tstat opens i am confident you will get a reading above 170. Maybe not 195 but it will be closer to 195 than 170.

You have to find out nearly exactly the water temp when the tstat opens. If you say it does not go above 170 because that is what is showing on a guage, you really have no clue as to what the temp is.

Do what Mac said above and know for sure. After you know the temp of the fluid when the tstat opens and at that point in time have a reading of what the sensor is sending to the computer, now you have enough pieces of the puzzle to fix the issue without throwing parts at it. Unless throwing parts at it make you warm and fuzzy.

If you do not have a digital thermometer and don't want to buy one. Take the tstat out, warm up water in a pan to 170 and see if your 195 tstat opens. Repeat the process at 195. But you will need a food thermometer. You need to verify the very basics.

if throwing parts at this thing gave me the warm and fuzzy, i'd look like bigfoot joined the marine corp.

i'm not ignoring mac's advice but no, i don't have a scan tool or IR gun. however, i did learn that the temp will reach 195-ish and settle without the fan. that of course sitting in the driveway on a chilly morning.

got a new fan clutch on the way, we'll see what that does. could also possibly be a bad relay?
after that, i don't know what else i could replace. the only thing that isn't new on the whole cooling system would be the heater core and it seems to be working fine.

i do appreciate any and all suggestions!

cheers!

edit: i do have a wood heater magnet thermo that i may be able to get a read at the bottle(although i don't think it's a magnetic material...)

 

[DuckNut]

if throwing parts at this thing gave me the warm and fuzzy, i'd look like bigfoot joined the marine corp.

i'm not ignoring mac's advice but no, i don't have a scan tool or IR gun. however, i did learn that the temp will reach 195-ish and settle without the fan. that of course sitting in the driveway on a chilly morning.

got a new fan clutch on the way, we'll see what that does. could also possibly be a bad relay?
after that, i don't know what else i could replace. the only thing that isn't new on the whole cooling system would be the heater core and it seems to be working fine.

i do appreciate any and all suggestions!

cheers!

edit: i do have a wood heater magnet thermo that i may be able to get a read at the bottle(although i don't think it's a magnetic material...)

How do you know it settles at 195?

Because the gauge on the dash says so? The same one that reads 25 degrees cooler when you drive? How do you know the temp is 195 and not 210?

The fan has zero to do with the fluid reaching the temp of the thermostat and causing it to open. If you take the belt off when you drive it should reach temp, right? Or you could leave the fan off and all would be good.

I will say it again. If you do not know the temp the tstat opens at you have nowhere to start. A food thermometer is $3 at the grocery store. Get one. Then put a pan of water on the stove and start cooking the tstat. When the water reaches 170 lift up the tstat and see it it is open or closed. If it opens at 170 you have solved the mystery. If I is closed you need to continue raising the water to 195 and check it again. If it is open you have solved your mystery. If it is closed continue raising the water temp until it opens and check the temp at that point. 170 and 195 are not exact but it will be +/- a couple degrees.

Without doing this you will be the hairiest guy in Marine Corp history.

 

[Pantera99]

Well getting highly irritated, been 11 days & no thermostat, no response to email. Meant to call them yesterday but forgot about it. Just took a quick drive & stopped to feel the hoses & they all felt the same, lukewarm so it certainly seems like the thermostat is stuck open to me.
Downloaded that stupid Shop app for tracking but it didn't really show anything but the order invoice.

 

[Pantera99]

Well after 2 full weeks I finally received an email that the thermostat has finally shipped?! By the time I get this fixed I probably won't need heat anymore but at least it's on its way.

 

[glowell222]

Even if you don't need heat, it's better to have the engine running at correct operating temp.

 

[Pantera99]

Even if you don't need heat, it's better to have the engine running at correct operating temp.

True just frustrating, 33 degrees this morning!! Can't imagine how the rest of the country feels. If I went back to PA I'd probably die at this point!!! Give me 100 degrees any day!!!

 

[voodooridr]

True just frustrating, 33 degrees this morning!! Can't imagine how the rest of the country feels. If I went back to PA I'd probably die at this point!!! Give me 100 degrees any day!!!

12° on the way to work this morning
At least it wasn't 7° like Monday morning

 

[Pantera99]

12° on the way to work this morning
At least it wasn't 7° like Monday morning

Damn! Yea I have friends & family in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Indiana & New Jersey, can't even imagine those temperatures anymore. We certainly pay for it in the summer but I'll take the winter tradeoff.

 

[KennethS]

By the time I get this fixed I probably won't need heat anymore but at least it's on its way.

Just put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator to block some of the air flow; that will cause it to heat up just as a thermostat would.

Back in college I rode home with a friend in his Jeep with no thermostat. It was so dang cold when we stopped at a gas station I dug in the trash for a cardboard box, cut a chunk of it, and wedged it in front of the radiator. It was too big and caused the engine to run hot, so I eventually trimmed it down to maybe 12"x12" and that was enough to raise the coolant temps to the point the heater was toasty. That's one tril I'll never forget.

 

[Pantera99]

Just put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator to block some of the air flow; that will cause it to heat up just as a thermostat would.

Back in college I rode home with a friend in his Jeep with no thermostat. It was so dang cold when we stopped at a gas station I dug in the trash for a cardboard box, cut a chunk of it, and wedged it in front of the radiator. It was too big and caused the engine to run hot, so I eventually trimmed it down to maybe 12"x12" and that was enough to raise the coolant temps to the point the heater was toasty. That's one tril I'll never forget.

Yea didn't think about that, not a bad idea. I think we're through the coldest it's gonna get here but ya never know?

 

[Pantera99]

Ok, so after 18 days my Robertshaw thermostat finally shows up?! Getting up the energy to get it installed.

 

[macleanflood]

Your thermostat beat my UCF skid plate.

-Mac

 

[KennethS]

Just as a piece of information, I installed a whatever brand thermostat from the local O’Reilleys Auto Parts in maybe 2018(?) and the coolant temp has been fine during this past summer with 118 degree temperatures and also this past week with 30 degree temperatures.

 

[macleanflood]

I'm guessing that a 2018 pre-Covid O'Reilly thermostat is a million times better than anything they currently sell.

It's a logical falicy to assume past performance guarantees future quality.

I know everyone swears by Mopar...but Mopar thirty years ago, 20...pre-Covid isn't today's Mopar.

-Mac

 

[Moglocker]

True just frustrating, 33 degrees this morning!! Can't imagine how the rest of the country feels. If I went back to PA I'd probably die at this point!!! Give me 100 degrees any day!!!

I know here in Florida is crazy,been here a little over a year and every one is saying coldest winter ever by far,global warming my ass(lol)

 

[Pantera99]

I know here in Florida is crazy,been here a little over a year and every one is saying coldest winter ever by far,global warming my ass(lol)

Yea & I have a hard time understanding how the three hottest days in Phoenix were all in 1990, 120°, 121° & 122°. Have called for 120° here several times since I've lived here (1999) but has never actually happened.

 

[Pantera99]

Ok thermostat in place, waiting for the Right Stuff to set up a bit to torque down. The Motorad that was in there was NOT stuck open so we'll see if it changes anything. It is about 13 yrs old so probably time anyway.

 

[KennethS]

Yea & I have a hard time understanding how the three hottest days in Phoenix were all in 1990, 120°, 121° & 122°. Have called for 120° here several times since I've lived here (1999) but has never actually happened.

There was an article on the 20th (?) anniversary of the 122 that shut down Sky Harbor that mentioned the official NWS thermometer at the airport was moved to a cooler location so that event would not happen again.

 

[Pantera99]

Well checked the old Motorad in hot water & seemed to start opening around 170-175° so that's gotta be part of the problem anyway.

 

[Pantera99]

There was an article on the 20th (?) anniversary of the 122 that shut down Sky Harbor that mentioned the official NWS thermometer at the airport was moved to a cooler location so that event would not happen again.

Hmmm, hadn't heard about that. But if it was over all that concrete it would probably read higher than it actually is? I'll hafta look for that article.