The Fonz

I decided to change my thermostat a while back and I was given a rather rude shock when I did it. I removed the thermostat housing and I took off the old one (it had some surface corrosion, well probably since it has'nt been changed since 1998!). I put a nice new shiny triton thermostat in (5 yr warranty, better than Ford !!) filled up the coolant and I was away.

After a few times stuck at the lights (not a very hot day 23 degrees), the temp gauge all of a sudden shot right near the N mark not far from the hot mark. I shit my pants literally, so I drove the car home slower than a pensioner worried I might blow the radiator. When I managed to get her home I let the car cool and then I observed the coolant, no probs there. I took the car up to Natrad for a inspection. I actually found my car was running cooler than normal at 89 instead of 99 ish degrees. Is that good well I think it is, or is it! One problem though is my temp gauge stuffed or is another sensor the culprit?

Aussiblue

Check:
A) You have a dual acting thermostat.
B) You filled the system in the right way to avoid air locks.

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Regards Blue

SiX_iN_a_RoW

First of all did the temp gauge settle back down after a while?
Check what temperature thermostat you bought....if you have bought one with a higher temp it will start to open at a higher temp - helping you car warm up faster...What you will find is once you start it up in the morning the temp gauge will climb fairly high then all of a sudden drop once the thermostat has fully opened.

Another tip.....ALWAYS check your thermostat in a pot on the stove. place it in cold water and put the heat on full until it opens.....if it doesnt open take it back cause its faulty.
Its one thing buying a faulty set of spark plugs etc...but it could be costly fitting a faulty thermostat.

Anyway let us know how it goes...

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Lowered EF Futura
Black Steelies ( too cheap to buy proper mags )

Tickford6

I'd always go with factory thermostats. Your tempertature should not go above half way when driving, unless it is on the first warm up, where it goes slightly above half way then drops below half. If it does go above half way you might have a slipping fan clutch, blocked radiator or incorrect temperature range thermostat.
Check that the thermostat you got opens at the same temp as your old one. From memory, my EB1 used a 92 C thermostat, but could be wrong. Check the book. It would be good to get this undercontrol with summer on the way.

Good luck.

Brent79

Does this mean that the average ford donk will run at around 95-100 degress???

Brent

donuts2001

No the average ford donk works at 96C-110C.

The hotter the engine works at the better fuel effeciency and power.

Tickford6

How does that work? Are you sure about that?

The EFs onwards have a 92 C thermostat, and if my car goes above 95C there is something wrong (bad fan relay it turned out - easy fix, but EA-ED have clutches which can go)
A hotter engine in my book means knock, less advance, and less power and efficiency.

donuts2001

Yep, your car's coolant should be able to easily go over 100C... I don't really get what you mean by saying that if your EF goes over 95C you have a problem. It's meant to get over 100C thats why you have a pressurised cooling system, so that the water stays a liquid even after 100C.

By taking heat away from a motor with coolant you are "stealing" energy from the combustion process. The cooler your coolant is, the more energy you are stealing. Of course if it ran too hot you'd blow a head gasket or warped the cylinder head which is why the engine must be controlled to stay within the optimum temperature.

The Fonz

Well the car is running nice and cool according to Natrad so im happy with that. I think I will be buying a genuine Ford Thermostat and that 'may' solve the problem.I have a EA Falcon is there any good Ford thermostat you recommend (somebody said a Fairlane one is a real good one I remember?)

I think however it has something to do with my dog darned sensors near it. There is no lack in power from what I can observe in most cases. Though im going to get it fixed pronto before I do some damage.

The car is running at 89-95 degrees and I made the guys at Natrad 'thrash' the car to check to see if there was anything that would go wrong there and not on the road. They gave it the clean bill of health. So it seems to be simply the temp gauge is not reading accurately how hot/cool the car 'actually' is.

This is the problem I have to fix. I've booked it into a automotive electrician next week a very good one I know to see the temp sender and dash is working and also to see if anything is outa whack as well .....

sideshowfreak

my car only ever really sits on the L of Normal (way down the bottom) so it doesn't seem to run very hot.. is this where it commonly sits??

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