Coolant temp question

mustangdaren · Apr 24, 2006

Does 187.5 average temp sound normal with a 180 degree thermostat? It fluctuates between 183-193 whether on the highway or sitting still in 82 degree weather.

Roland69 · Apr 24, 2006

how did you get a percise temp like that you must be running an aftermarket temp gauge. But yea sounds normal I wouldn't think a 180 stat would let the temp go much above 188 while driving. It's probly hard for them to make a t-stat that will be exactly ballz on to open right at 180*

mustangdaren · Apr 24, 2006

autometer gauges

95GTAODE · Apr 24, 2006

Yeah, that sounds right.

Most parts store thermostat's list a range of operation. Most 180* degree stat's are listed as 180*-192*. Typically they start opening at 180*, and where they end up when they're fully open tends to vary within that range.

Roland69 · Apr 24, 2006

190* is a good temp to run at IMO

bill302 · Apr 24, 2006

sounds good very good.

mustangdaren · Apr 24, 2006

cool. I was just a little worried after changing fans. I haven't drove the car since early March and it was cooler out then so it ran 180 on the dot but the temps was in the low 60's

HISSIN50 · Apr 24, 2006

mustangdaren said:
cool. I was just a little worried after changing fans. I haven't drove the car since early March and it was cooler out then so it ran 180 on the dot but the temps was in the low 60's

I agree that it's fine. It's hard to run below the stat rating, and as it warms up outside, anything under 200*F when ambient temps are up, is pretty good IMHO (speaking of elec fans, where one has the fan's t-stat set close to or above 190*F).

onefstsnake · Apr 25, 2006

I just picked up a Mr Gasket 180* Balanced Tstat.

Hopefully that will cool things down a bit.

Currently Im running a stock 195* tstat and on a warm day (75*) it runs anywhere from 195*-210*

HISSIN50 · Apr 25, 2006

onefstsnake said:
I just picked up a Mr Gasket 180* Balanced Tstat.

Hopefully that will cool things down a bit.

Currently Im running a stock 195* tstat and on a warm day (75*) it runs anywhere from 195*-210*

Very nice choice of stat brand, IMHO.

Figure that you're dropping the stat opening temp 15-20* (some stats take a bit to open fully), so the temps should come down a noticable amount. I even noticed a difference in 110* ambient temps when going from a 180* parts store stat to a 180* Mr Gasket..........

BTW, a warm day is 110*F. It was over 90* a couple days ago.
Good luck.

Dan88_5.0 · Apr 25, 2006

well mine runs around there, sounds like a decent temp

PonyBoy90 · Apr 25, 2006

I just changed out my stock 195 t-stat a month ago for a 180 also.

When I had that 195 in, my highway temps were 209 degrees. I could feel the power being robbed from the engine. The last coolant flush I had was 3 years ago or about 10,000 miles so I was due for a change also.

Anyways, I exchanged the t-stat to a 180, swapped out some old hoses to the rad for new ones, a new 16lb rad-cap, and a fresh coolant flush and now my highway temps and stop-and-go are around 185 max!!!! The car feels more peppy now also. I had some other maintenance things done to the car at the time too like a full tune-up, but this was by far the best decision I made for the year!!!!

Originally, running at 209, I thought I'd need a new radiator or my fan-clutch was going bad. Turns out the only thing hindering my performance was a 195 t-stat and a coolant flush.

Can someone explain to me why Ford originally installed all 5.0 V8's with a 195 t-stat???????????????? They suck!

vristang · Apr 25, 2006

PonyBoy90 said:
I just changed out my stock 195 t-stat a month ago for a 180 also.

When I had that 195 in, my highway temps were 209 degrees. I could feel the power being robbed from the engine. The last coolant flush I had was 3 years ago or about 10,000 miles so I was due for a change also.

Anyways, I exchanged the t-stat to a 180, swapped out some old hoses to the rad for new ones, a new 16lb rad-cap, and a fresh coolant flush and now my highway temps and stop-and-go are around 185 max!!!! The car feels more peppy now also. I had some other maintenance things done to the car at the time too like a full tune-up, but this was by far the best decision I made for the year!!!!

Originally, running at 209, I thought I'd need a new radiator or my fan-clutch was going bad. Turns out the only thing hindering my performance was a 195 t-stat and a coolant flush.

Can someone explain to me why Ford originally installed all 5.0 V8's with a 195 t-stat???????????????? They suck!

Ford installed them for a couple of reasons, efficiency, power, emissions, engine durability.
Until you hit detonation from excessive temps, all of these things will improve with higher coolant temps.
Most likely the added "pep" you experienced was due to the general tune up. Replacing old plugs can make a big difference.
I would still like to see a dyno graph showing power gains with a 160 or 180 stat over a 195F.
Anyone know of a source for this, if nothing else just to shut me up!

jason

Coolant temp question

mustangdaren

Roland69

Sergeant Tangnet

mustangdaren

95GTAODE

New Member

Roland69

Sergeant Tangnet

bill302

Active Member

mustangdaren

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

onefstsnake

New Member

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

Dan88_5.0

New Member

PonyBoy90

vristang

Similar threads

Coolant temp question

Sergeant Tangnet

New Member

Sergeant Tangnet

Active Member

"How long does it take to get help in here?

New Member

"How long does it take to get help in here?

New Member

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency