Thermostat?

M

Mysterio

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Oct 6, 2004

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Lakewood, Ohio

Jul 24, 2005

#1

• Jul 24, 2005

• #1

What * thermostat does a 1993 LX come stock with? I'm trying to find out if my thermostat and/or sending unit is bad. My car's thermostat is telling me that my car runs a steady 160-ish degrees or lower. THe other day I hit some BADD traffic and my **** rocketed up to 200-ish because I was very low on coolant. Now I'm trying to figure out if my thermostat is reading ~20 degrees lower than it should be and I was really running 220+ or if it's reading correctly and my car just runs real cool.

 

HISSIN50

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

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Jul 24, 2005

#2

• Jul 24, 2005

• #2

Stock is a 195*F t-stat.

Does the upper radiator hose get hot and firm?

Good luck.

 

M

Mysterio

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Oct 6, 2004

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Lakewood, Ohio

Jul 24, 2005

#3

• Jul 24, 2005

• #3

HISSIN50 said:

Stock is a 195*F t-stat.

Does the upper radiator hose get hot and firm?

Good luck.

Click to expand...

I'll have to drive it around and let it heat up and check tommorow and see if it does.

 

S

SamSnyder

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Mar 30, 2005

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Jul 24, 2005

#4

• Jul 24, 2005

• #4

Dingdingding (bells going off). Your car should not be low on coolant. What caused that? It is true that 195 is too hot. On the other hand, 160 is too cold. In the words of Goldilocks, 180 is JUST RIGHT. But look for that coolant loss issue first.

 

Black 93 Fox

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Jun 1, 2003

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Jul 25, 2005

#5

• Jul 25, 2005

• #5

Like said befor find why your low on coolant. And 180 is right on the money for your t-stat.

 

1EVIL88VERT

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Jul 12, 2004

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Dyess AFB, TX

Jul 25, 2005

#6

• Jul 25, 2005

• #6

sounds like the t-stat is stuck open....do you feel pressure in the upper hose when motor is cold? and like the other guy said find out where coolant is going

 

M

Mysterio

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Lakewood, Ohio

Jul 25, 2005

#7

• Jul 25, 2005

• #7

The upper radiator hose is stiff when the engine isn't running. Haven't even touched it when the motor was running cold/hot. I'm not 100% sure what my guage is reading, I BELIEVE it's reading about 150-170*.. Here's a picture for reference. This is what it heats up to and continues to run at steadily:

I was also already aware of a small coolant leak, just haven't honed down on from where yet. My main issue right now was trying to figure out if my thermostat is reading the right temperature so I can find out if i'm running cold/hot. Trying to diagnose exactly what's going on with that then i'll find the leak.

 

Black 93 Fox

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Jul 25, 2005

#8

• Jul 25, 2005

• #8

If it doesnt really get any hotter then that I would think the t-stat is stuck open which it does when the t-stat goes south. Try replacing it with a 180 and see what happens.

 

M

Mysterio

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Oct 6, 2004

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Lakewood, Ohio

Jul 25, 2005

#9

• Jul 25, 2005

• #9

Black 93 Fox said:

If it doesnt really get any hotter then that I would think the t-stat is stuck open which it does when the t-stat goes south. Try replacing it with a 180 and see what happens.

Click to expand...

Ok, that is basically what I was wondering. I was thinking it was stuck open and that was most likely the problem. I'll have to buy a 180 and see what it does with that on there. Thanks for the input.

 

88 Fox GT

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Nov 18, 2002

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Jul 25, 2005

#10

• Jul 25, 2005

• #10

Black 93 Fox said:

If it doesnt really get any hotter then that I would think the t-stat is stuck open which it does when the t-stat goes south. Try replacing it with a 180 and see what happens.

Click to expand...

Gotta be stickin open. I am running a stock 195° thermostat and even on a 100° day, mine runs right at or just a tad above the middle line on the gauge.

 

Black 93 Fox

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Jul 25, 2005

#11

• Jul 25, 2005

• #11

Mysterio said:

Ok, that is basically what I was wondering. I was thinking it was stuck open and that was most likely the problem. I'll have to buy a 180 and see what it does with that on there. Thanks for the input.

Click to expand...

Hey no problem let us know how the out come is.

 

M

Mysterio

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Lakewood, Ohio

Jul 26, 2005

#12

• Jul 26, 2005

• #12

I bought a 180* Thermostat.. Installed it (I had a 160* in???? I guess the guy I bought it from must have put in a 160 since he lived in vegas? I dont know)... And the car was still running colder than it should so my Dad put his thermometer on the heater hose and it was reading ~175 so I went and bought a new sending unit and put it in and now as far as I can tell my guage is reading where it should be. It's reading slightly above the 3rd line up.. Dead Middle is 200* so Im figuring its reading at abut 180 where it should be. Thanks everyone for their input

 

HISSIN50

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

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Jul 26, 2005

#13

• Jul 26, 2005

• #13

Mysterio said:

And the car was still running colder than it should so my Dad put his thermometer on the heater hose and it was reading ~175 so I went and bought a new sending unit and put it in and now as far as I can tell my guage is reading where it should be. It's reading slightly above the 3rd line up.. Dead Middle is 200* so Im figuring its reading at abut 180 where it should be. Thanks everyone for their input

Click to expand...

IMHO trying to make diagnoses from the stock gauge is not a good idea. You made a leap of interpolation faith that I would not. I know my stock gauge is off by 45*F at times.

Good luck.

 

M

Mysterio

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Oct 6, 2004

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Lakewood, Ohio

Jul 26, 2005

#14

• Jul 26, 2005

• #14

HISSIN50 said:

IMHO trying to make diagnoses from the stock gauge is not a good idea. You made a leap of interpolation faith that I would not. I know my stock gauge is off by 45*F at times.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

I knew the stock guage was off that was one of the problems. However it did have the wrong thermostat in there so I fixed both problems and now the guage seems to be reading pretty accurately. I'm just using it as a guess-timate to see if my car is running at the correct temp or running hotter than it should be. And now after changing the sending unit and thermostat it looks like the guage is reading pretty accurately.