So on Saturday I noticed the water temp gauge getting up into the high 190s. It almost always sits around 185F unless I'm running the car hard. But now for the last 3 days it seems to get hot quickly upon initial start up & the temps will sit in the high 190s and get up into the low 200s-210s when running. I use autostick all the time to keep the car from bogging with the Whipple. Now I've had the Whipple setup for almost a year & even down in the heat of Texas it would stay in the 180s. Whipple provides a 160F thermostat with kit which I am using. I've checked the fans & they are running fine, coolant was about 2-3 cups low so I added some distilled water for now. The car will cool back down sitting in traffic or when the revs drop back down while moving. But I'm clueless as far as what could be causing this all the sudden?? Would a thermostat stuck open do this? Ive google searched & searched the forums but am not finding a good answer?
Sure can , just like newold stated. My last one , brand new when we installed the 426. One week later , overheating(up to 215-220ish)only under load. Then back down , until finally it crapped out completely and temps hit the ceiling. This was not the first time and surely will not be the last. This particular car is going on three years old and on its fourth stat.
I’ve had thermostats fail that don’t open all the way. A thermostat that does not open to max flow will cause overheating while under load just like a reduction in coolant flow due to reduced passage diameter.
I ordered a new Mishimoto so I can just replace it. Don't want to deal with the pulling, boiling, is it open, if it isn't then put it back together and order one.
Have a new thermostat coming in from Whipple Friday so hoping that solves it. Unfortunately with Whipple you have to remove the pulley bracket to get to the thermostat so I'll just replace it when I take it apart.
The stat arrived and I had the time so in it went. The temps are way down now (170-178° on the way into work). I'm not happy that a 1.5 year old $50 stat failed but happy it isn't something else more expensive.
So what if your displayed temps aren't as hot as they used to be?
Asking because the past couple of mornings on the way to work it's been mid 40's outside and I'm only seeing 165*-170*F displayed? Coolant level looks normal, or at least what the overflow shows is Normal for a cool engine? And nothing has changed other than outside temps? Even this winter when it was 0*F outside I saw oil temps displayed at 220*F and now only 175* this morning. Trans temp, 175*F before this week but now only 15*F. Coolant showed 199*F cruising down the road but again, only 165-170*F this morning??
I would say thermostat for my issue as well, but.... Nothing has changed?!
Unless, since I swapped brake calipers due to one sticking and it actually freed up the car that much from dragging that it runs NORMAL temps now??
I would use a 180 tstat. 170 is a little too cold.
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