Thermostat Question---please Read

[edwx]

I've heard that Ford thermostats typically open a little early and the vehicles run a little cold. Even "The Car Guys" agree. I think this is the case with my Explorer. The temperature gauge always registers less than half-way between C and H. I'd like to replace the thermostat so the vehicle runs a little warmer. How do I find one that will achieve this purpose? I went to NAPA today and bought their OEM replacement. It's a 190 degree thermostat. I haven't looked at my vehicle's thermostat yet, but I'm thinking, if it's the OEM thermostat, it will just do the same thing! Do all 190 thermostats open exactly at the same time? Will the NAPA thermostat open a little later? Or do I need to find, let's say, a 200 degree thermostat that will work with my vehicle? I hope I'm making myself clear. Suggestions? The reason I'm asking is because I'm about to start the Auto-Rx cleaning phase, and someone suggested that if my vehicle runs cold, replace the thermostat because the process will work better. So my question is, "replace it with what?" Any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm also going to ask this ? at BITOG also, but I figured I'd start here. Thanks!

 

[BrooklynBay]

The fan clutch (or electric fan in some vehicles) works along with the thermostat. The temperature range isn't exact since there are 2 factors involved (thermostat, and fan clutch). How many pounds is your radiator cap?

 

[manaen]

what is your goal? fuel savings? Performance?

 

[edwx]

On my '03 XLS there is no "radiator" cap anymore. The only pressure cap is on the overflow/fill reservoir, and that's 16 psi.

 

[edwx]

manaen....my goal in doing the Auto-Rx process is a general engine cleaning, plus possibly helping a small crankshaft pulley seal leak. I've got 145k miles on it. The mpg and performance is almost as good as the day I bought it new. The goal with the thermostat issue is to make the vehicle run warmer.

 

[ummduh]

Why would you want it to run warmer? It only needs to run warm enough to go into closed loop. This happens around 180 degrees generally.

A hotter engine only helps with emissions(to a point, then actually worsens it), and is actually detrimental to performance and mechanical life.

To sum things up; cool = better as long as closed loop is attained.

You can run a 160 degree tstat if you have your comp reprogrammed or chipped to take advantage of it, the benefit being that you can run more spark advance with less chance of pre-ignition, among other issues.

 

[edwx]

It was suggested to me that the Auto-Rx process works better with a warmer running engine. It would be only a temporary situation anyway....and at this point I'm leaning towards doing nothing. Kind of a hippocratic oath thing. Do no harm. The Auto-Rx process will probably work fine.

 

[ummduh]

Please explain this "Auto-Rx"? Internal engine cleaner?

Personally I would not run any type of cleaner through an engine ( I am assuming this is some type of Seafoam stuff) at an elevated (above OE) engine temp.
The most I would do is take it out and beat it up for a few minutes before hand.

 

[edwx]

check out bobistheoilguy site and you'll find it there highy spoken of.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

www.auto-rx.com

Excellent product...I've used it to de-gunk engines already, and it definitely lives up to its promises.

It's not a solvent based cleaner, rather an enzyme type that slowly dissolves built up crud, rather than breaking off large chunks which can happen with a "shock" type of engine flush.

 

[CDW6212R]

The best temperature for an engine is around 195 degrees, and 95+ models do very well with that rating of thermostat. Older Fords are different, skip that discussion here.

If you are going to change it again, go to the trouble of buying a 195 from Motorad. That one company makes thermostats which promise to not fail closed. If they do ever fail they fail open, thus no further damage is caused to the engine. I just two weeks ago had my e-fan not work, I hit 270, now my only issue is slow warm up. My Motorad thermostat has failed, but it is passing coolant well enough to drive.

Call around, when I bought this one for my SOHC 4.0, I had to speak with Motorad and obtain a part number. I ordered it through O'Reilly's, for the same cost as any other brand. It took several days though, and they are called Failsafe thermostats.

Also, add Water Weter(Redline) to the coolant, and use minimal anti-feeze, water transfers heat much better than anti-freeze. Good luck,

 

[edwx]

Can you explain how I should use the Water Wetter? I'm in the process of looking into the Motorad thermostat you suggested. Thanks

 

[aldive]

Can you explain how I should use the Water Wetter?

You just add the bottle to the radiator.

Dead Link Removed

Good stuff.

 

[edwx]

CDW6212R....I'm using a 50/50 coolant mixture. You mentioned using minimal anti-freeze. How minimal? We have cold winters up here in upstate ny (warm summers too.) Just nervous about it. On the thermostat thing. I just ordered a Stant 195 from Advance. It's supposed to be OE. The NAPA thermostat I originally spoke about (THM280) in my post says 190 on the part itself, but on the NAPA website the same part # lists as a 192-195 optional temp. thermostat! What the heck is optional temperature, and why does it say 192-195 on the site and 190 on the actual part? Confusing!! Any input would be great. Thanks for your help.

 

[CDW6212R]

The temperature ratings will be in a 190-197 range, don't worry about a few degrees. Just see the big difference from a 180, 160, or 210 type of thermostat.

Check one of the anti-freeze choices you have at stores, or at a website, find one of those charts showing protection temperatures. You are North enough that the 50% may be your only choice. But look at the chart, find the temperatures which you consistently see there, not the rare temperatures. You can match that rating to your truck, just know that the truck does not hold four gallons like 20 years ago. It's unlikely that you have three gallons of coolant.

I added three quarts of anti-freeze in my radiator, and a quart to the overflow bottle. We see single digits here every year, but nothing lasting too long. If you drive your truck daily, the engine heat will keep coolant above outside temperatures for a long time. The Water Weter also helps slightly with freezing and water pump lubrication.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

I realize there's a bunch of varying opinions here, but from experience, I'd definitely recommend a Stant Superstat thermostat. They're also sold under the Carquest "gold" line. They have been thus far, the only thermostat that has never failed in any engine I've ever installed one in. I believe Stant offers a lifetime warranty on them.
Another feature of them that I like is they have "V" shaped notches in the plunger which eliminates the abrupt temperature drop when the 'stat opens. It allows the water to circulate more gradually and keep a more consistent temperature.

Throwing my $0.02 in about MotoRad "Fail Safe" thermostats...Carquest stores used to sell them back about 10 years ago, but they were so unreliable that they dropped the line. I don't know if they got better over the years, but back then, they were the worst of the worst. My Carquest guy said that he couldn't recall a customer that bought one that didn't return it shortly thereafter.
Now that I stop and think about it, I don't think any parts store in my area carries anything by MotoRad anymore.

I also personally don't buy the whole Water Wetter gimmick either. We tried it in our stock car and it accomplished nothing. There's a few threads on BITOG about it that tend to reinforce my findings. I'd run the Ford specified G-05 coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water and call it a day. A suitable substitute for G-05 would be Peak Global Extended Life coolant. We use this instead of Dex-Cool in the GM cars since it doesn't sludge like Dex tends to do if kept in the system too long. Flushing a cooling system and replacing the coolant with the same type that caused the system to need cleaning in the first place was counter-productive in my opinion, so I discovered this Peak coolant worked exceptionally well.

 

[CDW6212R]

Opinions vary Mike, but I deal in my own personal street vehicles, and one of them is my work vehicle, for delivering mail. I do not jump on band wagons or tout things that I just heard of, or tried once with no history.

I have witnessed the coolant temperature drop a noticeable amount in each vehicle of mine that I have used Water Weter in. My mail vehicle has an electric fan controller, so the effect on its running temperature is not verifiable.

My fan ran very very little before the power to it was interrupted for a day. The temperature of the coolant, with our highs near 100, stayed steady around 192-202. These trucks have exceptional cooling systems. When I had the 270 degree overheating issue, that occurred after about 25 minutes of running, that over about two miles. It took a lot of idling to push the temperature high enough for me to notice the fast idle. When I stopped as normal I smelled coolant, checked the temp, and cut off the engine.

A regular thermostat may or may not have survived 270 degrees. If it did not, I would have been broken down and lost a day of pay, plus the issue of repairing the thermostat. As it is, I did not do anything except fix the circuit breaker, that made the fan run, cooled the engine, and I added about 45-50 ounces of water. I have done nothing to the truck since then, I waited to be sure that nothing else is wrong. Now I am ready to replace the thermostat and have it just like before, which was great.

FYI, I have a constant monitoring of my PCM functions, including the coolant temperature. My coolant always came up quickly and steadily, with no odd jumps up or down in temperature. Temperatures only vary at all, from idling extended periods in high outside temperatures. An electric fan is a wonderful idea, it's too bad that Ford never tried them in our trucks.

 

[aldive]

Water Wetter works well in every use that I have given it.

It will always be in my coolant.