Problem , Inquiry about the ECT

[TheREALReiGnMaN]

Hey gys and gals ,

I have a general question . I have a 1991 Fbody 302 ... Has 32,000 miles on it , its my baby . Long story short , just redid the whole coolant system , found some cracks in the fan , replaced it , then clutch , then ran it , and the Water coolant pump went bad ... So , replaced the wp , and went on my merry way... Well the other day i had HIGH pressure in my hose for some reason... ( thermostat )... long story short , i replaced it ... after " trying " rtv.. wich is a waste of time , regular gaskets work just fine ... Anyways , It was running VERY kool for the first 1-2 years i've had it ... Now , after the thermostat job I CANNOT get it to run anywhere near that...... So here's my question

1: My car was running around 135-145 ALWAYS prior , for the past year or two.. I always assumed it was hot enough , and just preffered running kool... Was it a " pinned open " thermostat that finally went bad ?

2: The car is running around the " mid " normal range , but the engine bay is VERY unsettlingly hot ... It's inbetween the A and m in Normal ... but again , this car is my baby and I treat it that way.. not a " well thats good enough " for most things....

So anyways , Does anyone know the " standard " operating tempeture for a WELL running , slightly modded pony ? 91 5.0 H.O

 

[NKau]

What thermostat did you put in? 185-190 is a pretty standard operating temp. Don't go exclusively by the factory guage. Go buy a crappy mechanical guage to hook up temporarily to confirm whether or not there's really a problem.
Does the car get warmer in traffic, or on the highway?

 

[HISSIN50]

ill add onto Nick's temp-info a little - stock stat rating is 195/197, so it would not be unusual to see 210-220*F on an iron head motor, if the cooling system has seen better days. I know what Nick meant - i like to run in the temp range he specified (great range for a 180* t-stat). but if you have a stock stat, it would be hard to run below the rated temp, once you are to to operating temps.

provide more info, and i would follow Nick's advice - good stuff.

good luck.

 

[TheREALReiGnMaN]

yo

It's 180 Thermostat , Car is running pretty much the same after warmup ... just weary b/c it used to run alot smoother in very cool temp range , but now it's more toward the " normal " range then below it ... Guess it's right , Thanks for the info though guys .

 

[HISSIN50]

in quickly re-reading this, are you sure you dont have air in the cooling system? if you have doubts, burp it. it can really help. good luck.

 

[Js5ohLX]

Where did you get your new water pump? Maybe they gave you the wrong one, I've seen that a few times.