Engine Temp Question

[Scott B.]

Hello All,

While on the last phase of my recent cross country adventure, my engine decided it didn't want to come up to temperature. It warms up to the normal range, staying around the "N", but never going above it.

Looks like the thermostat is stuck open, right? As a test, I replaced the thermostat with a known good one (but not a new one.) Engine gets a few degrees warmer, but not significantly warmer. I replaced the radiator cap with a new one, knowing this probably wouldn't change anything. It didn't.

Any suggestions or ideas?

I flush and replace the coolant and thermostat every 15,000 miles (currently using Prestone and distilled water), the radiator cap every 30,000 or so miles. I still have the original water pump (with 160,000 miles on it), and there appear to be no leaks. The coolant level in the overflow tank does slowly drop (but with this many miles on the engine, this is expected)

 

[Dennis Myers]

Hi Scott

I had the same problem before the CCR. So I replaced my Water pump Thermostat and upper and lower hoses and the problem is a thing of the past. The ori. water pump was not leaking or making making any noise, but it had 95,000 miles on it and I would rather change it in my driveway than on the side of the road. When I took off the old one it seamed a little wobbly when I spun it by hand.
How was you drive home from CCR?

 

[Scott B.]

Dennis,

The drive home was good - 3 days from California to Georgia. You need to read my report under Serious Explorations/CCR2000 pics .... http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=19090&pagenumber=4(about 1/2 down the page)