correct temp???

[Bigcheck1]

does anybody know what the actual coolant temp (in degrees) is for a 92 explorer, when warmed up.??

i just replaced the radiator and tstat to try and pinpoint my overheating at idle problems after driving for awhile. my auto meter gauge is reading at about 200-210. does this seems high, i can see when my thermostat opens on the gauges cause it goes down at about 195.

 

[Alec]

Sounds like your thermostat is opening a bit too late. Your thermostat should be opening between 192 and 195 degrees, not keeping it a constant 195 degrees.

 

[Opera House]

Is the temperature normal at highway speeds?

If it is, it might be the fan clutch slips more than it should at idle.

 

[Bigcheck1]

its normal at highway speeds, but once i slow down like to pay the toll on the trnpke, then it starts to overheat, once i get going again it will cool down, it only does this after i drive for awhile, i've ruled out head gasket, thermostat adn now i put a new radiator in. the radiator was all gunky anyway so that couldnt have hurt. think it might be the fan clutch????, i drove around town tonight and it was fine, i'll take it on a drive today to see if it does it again.

 

[Alec]

Don't rule out the thermostat just because it's new. It is a cheapo part, remember.

 

[Bigcheck1]

i just drove around for awhile and it didnt overheat, it stayed close to 210 on the gauge the whole time, seems kinda high still though, this morning it went all the way to 250 and then came right back down. i'm confused as hell. sometimes it seems fine and sometimes it doesnt. i guess i'll see what happens on my drive to wilkesbarre and back tomorrow.

 

[Alec]

Well, still think it's thermo, fan-related, or it could be a failing water pump.

 

[Bigcheck1]

i tested the fan and that seems fine, i think i'm down to just water pump or thermo now. it only does it after driving awhile. this is confusing, i'll probably replace the water pump over thanksgiving since its under warranty and wont cost me anything but time.

 

[VOATMJ1]

I agree with Alec, it's the Thermostat. You can get bad ones right out of the box!

My X was doing EXACTLY what yours was doing, the temp gage would climb high, and then drop like a rock once the stat opened. It could be your water pump, but unlikley. But hey if it;s under warranty, go for it.

 

[Bigcheck1]

well, here's an update. after a few hours today we put in a new water pump and fan clutch. it overheated again. sdo we pulled the thermostat out and ran the truck without one for awhile . the temp stayed at right about 150 while we drove. i'm guessing this is my culprit then right? this thing is pissing me off. i have to drive home on tuesday and want to make sure i'll be able to so tomorrow i'm gonna put anouther one in and go from there. sound like a good idea.??

 

[Alec]

Yup, sounds like the Tstat then.

 

[Bigcheck1]

ok, just drove it again with no tstat in. went to about 150 and stayed there. this should mean that my tstat is bad right? there shouldnt be any other things that would cause overheating right. would it be bad if i drove for a long period of time without a thermostat in at all? i'd hate to replace this thing again and have it be bad too. i still cant believe that i would get 3 bad tstats.....i might kill the manufacturer if i ever meet the guy that makes the things. i'm just trying to rule out any other option for my overheating problems.

 

[Alec]

I don't usually recommend this, but maybe you should just go with an 180 Tstat.

 

[Bigcheck1]

after reading all these posts about overheating, i might be leaning towards head gasket problems maybe. i dotn know why, but i cant believe that its a tstat again. the only thing that makes me lean towards the tsat is that with iot out it runs cool. i have no water in the oil and no loss in performance at all. but what else could i look for if the heads were warped or gaskets shot?

 

[JDraper]

Look for compression variations and deposits on the spark plugs. Also, if your system is full of antifreeze, the exhaust will smell a little sweet. The way I finally found the warped head in my Sammy was to run it until it was up to temperature and then pull the plugs. I let it sit for about 10 minutes and then turned the motor over without the plugs in it. It blew water vapor out the spark plug holes of the cylinders that were leaking.

Dumb question. Are you sure you're putting the tstat in the right way?? If you put it in backwards, it won't work right.

It's also possible that you have a partial obstruction in the cooling system and having the tstat out is just allowing enough water to keep it cool.

You can check the tstat by dumping it in a container of boiling water. It should open within 20 seconds or so and close as the water cools. If it doesn't ,there's your culprit.

 

[Alec]

It sounded to me like his last tstat was opening, just 10-15 degrees too late.

 

[Bigcheck1]

i tested this tstat last night and it worked like it should, this is the new one. i'm gonna put it in today and see what happens. if it overheats again, the only thing left to do is get a compression check done and go from there. i'd hate to tear the motor down to the heads again, but since its overheated so many times now, its lkikely that i warped the head or even cracked them. i wont know till i get in there.