Cooling system

[Infragate]

Yesterday i replaced my thermostat because it never really seemed like it was working right, and i found that the old gasket was torn. It was never leaking coolant out of the vehicle but might have been leaking internally. With the new thermostat the vehicle runs a bit warmer. I was wondering what normal operating temperature is in most 1st gen. explorers. My temp gauge reads about half the normal temperature range when it gets to the warmest point while driving.

 

[Jason94sport]

If the gauge is somewhat accurate it should be in the middle. Mine has been at about the N in normal. Mines just not accurate. I went through 2 thermostat's. Both had no effect on where my gauge goes.

 

[MrShorty]

Normal should have the thermostat open at about 192 F (90 C). Under normal conditions, it should run within a few degrees of that. Because the gauge is "uncalibrated," I'd check the actual temperature against a mechanical gauge or the computer's temperature gauge, if you really want to know.

 

[Infragate]

yeah that is probably what i'll do. I noticed right after i changed the thermostat, the engine runs a bit hotter and seems to respond a bit better. The old thermostat, like i said, had a torn gasket. In the winter, it didn,t really warm up as much as i thought it should, and in the summer, i would expect more, but now it seems to be workin normally. But i will check it with a better gauge. Thanks for the responses! Take care.