Chico

I have no idea what your talking about with the cool valve. The 180* thermo was never put in. It has a 195* in right now that I believe might be the problem. Temps have been verified with plenty of laser thermometers. Temp sender in the back of the head has been changed out 3 times. 2 differnt gauges have been used (Hornbrod even calibrated one.) Clusters have been switched twice. Everything works as it should. I'm shooting for the dealer thermostat from BLHTAZ to permenantly fix this, but if anybody has any other suggestions let me know. I'm all ears.

Never boiled over. I've never been in the red zone. I did have two brand new caps fail on new plastic tanks and let coolant out but it's no longer a problem with my metal expansion tank and normal radiator cap. I've let the car sit and idle in my driveway for 3 hours before (when I was running Prestone's cleaner thru the cooling system) and it never overheated. My temp gauge was close to the red zone and laser thermometers on the outside of the thermostat housing would read 215*-225* until I kicked on the fan and HVAC. Like I said, running the electric fan and HVAC on fulltime keep my gauge at 210* or a little above and laser temps on the thermo housing 200*-205*. Everything on the cooling system is new. The only thing I can think of is the thermostat is opening but not completely. It's funny you mention climbs. If I go up a hill the temp goes up slightly, but on the way down the temp drops back down to perfect temp.

Dude, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you pee sitting down now or how does that work? :rotfl2:

I put in a brand new one from MO. It made absolutely no differnce in temp.

Wow :eek: That was a fast reply. Thanks for the explanation Willy :cheers: By any chance ,you don't happen to have any other ideas on the cooling issue do you :brows:

X2 The proper t-stat for the engine will be 195 and come with a hole in it that goes at the 12:00 position with a little check ball in a copper sleeve to allow flow only in one direction. :cheers: Not that it matters much anymore because I ordered a dealer one from Brent but Willy I'd like to know why you suggested throwing the 180* one away? I have no idea if you've read all of my previous posts on my cooling problem but I'll re-cap it real quick. New: 195* thermostat upper/lower radiator hoses waterpump heater control valve and hoses running to and from the heater core 3-core all metal radiator fan clutch metal tank expansion tank (to replace the plastic one) second overflow bottle to convert it to an open system I've put the second electric aux fan on a relayed switch. I've had the whole system flushed by Valvoline on their machine twice I've bled the system thru the temp sender a dozen times There is no head gasket leak. (No oil in coolant/vice versa and I've used a block tester to confirm) Compression test is fine When I replaced the waterpump I even went as far as sticking a dentist's little mirror inside the engine as far as I could to see if I could find any buildup. (Almost none) Alas the only way to keep my temp around 210* at the gauge (201* at the thermostat housing) is to run the aux fan on full time and my HVAC system on full blast (hot or cold it doesn't matter) If I don't use both I run up about 10-20*. OK, remembering that I didn't even know what my temp was until I put in a full gauge cluster I started to rethink my situation. When I first put in the full cluster it always showed 210*. I started having problems last winter because the engine would never heat up. This is when I found out that the OP had removed the thermostat and never replaced it. I put one in and that's when I started running warm. So after changing EVERYTHING in the cooling system I've decided to start at the begining again. Maybe I just put in a faulty thermostat from the start. Now I know CW always says these engines run warmer (220*) but I've found out if I can keep the engine at 210* I get 1-2 better MPG. It doesn't seem like much but going from 10 MPG to 14 MPG is a definite improvement. After all this I figured if the thermo I put in last winter isn't faulty maybe putting in the 180* one will help me get that couple degrees I need lower. Now I'll try the dealer one. Maybe it will make a differnce, maybe it will be like every other part I've replaced that's been perfectly fine to start with. I was just wondering why you said "Throw it in the trash."

:cheers:

I would just e-mail Jp Magazine. I was just reading part of that write up. They would probably have the list of materials on their website under the projects section. I know they were having trouble adapting the speedo to work.

The bolt that goes thru the harmonic balancer is 1/2-20 Grade 5. I think it's 1 1/2" long. Someone needs to verify that last part though.

Here's my new 180* thermo. Where am I supposed to drill the two holes? I see a dimple that let's the coolant thru in the second photo so if that is 12 o clock the opposite at 6 is blocked by an arm on the other side. Should I go thru that and what size drill bit would you guys use?

I'm on it sometime this week. Thanks eh :cheers:

Post to self Changed out the Harmonic Balancer and Front Main Seal. "Weird Noise" thread problem solved.

Supposedly you switch the wires around on the sending unit in the tank. PM Hornbrod, he knows for sure.

Is it possible that a thermostat can open when it hits operating temp but not open comepletely causing the engine to run a bit hotter? The reason I ask is because I'm still fiddling with the engine temp, I've changed the thermostat but with all the faulty parts I've recieved lately I'm wondering if maybe this one opens up, but not comepletely. Opinions?

Yep, That's how I changed mine.

Before you go and do anything else, go to Autozone and buy yourself a digi thermometer. They're around $20. Shoot differnt areas around the thermostat housing and get us a good reading. Then we'll go from there. If you search on the forum you'll find a lot of differnt things. Look up "Chico's 1988" in the MJ projects section to see what I replaced my plastic tank with. But first find out what temp your engine is actually running at. And bleed the system like BLHTAZ told you.

Still can't. Shop is still for sale. Actually I have an interview for a sales job in 9 days so my schedule is about to get busier. If the shop doesn't sell soon (like within the next 6 months) I'll have to file bankruptcy. Hopefully the plan is, Get this job, sell the shop, then I'll actually have weekends off and I'll be able to meet up with you guys.

I just put an open end wrench on the bolt and used another one to make it longer. Gave it a "twack" and the extra torque was enough to back the bolt off without the pulley moving. I can take a pic of the balancer but just sitting there it looks perfectly fine. When you press down on the outer rim you notice how it doesn't stay flush with the rest of the balancer.

No prob. When I changed mine out I couldn't find it anywhere around here though. I got mine from BLHTAZ.

Yep, that's what it is then.

In my best yuppie voice. Pat: "Dude, I'm drinking a Caramel Frappe the other day when I notice this rust bubble............. Guy:" Listen yuppie, it's a 20 year old truck. DEAL WITH IT!" Pat: "Forget this. I've got a ten pound pipe wrench with your head's name on it. :thwak: "

Manifold Air Temp. That is your intake manifold right?

I believe it's yout MAT

Did you have to to pull the radiator, to get the puller in there? Nope, puller fit tight.

Hey Chico, is that AVG in the greater Harrisburg area, or just on your side of the Suzy-Q( also known as the squeaky banana) ? :hmm: No, that was the lowest that night. Highest was 3.25-3.28 off major highways. Today's average price around here is 2.97.