For what it's worth, remember that you can buy a variety of temperature
ranges in thermostats. Make sure you are comparing identical
temperature items. I'm running a 173 (or thereabouts) because the
thermostat that came in the car was causing terrible overheating
problems, though when boiled behaved OK. Replacing it with a lower
rated temp was overkill... the car should be a bit warmer in winter.
The point is, don't trust boiling except to find out if it's dead or
alive. And if alive, a poor thermostat won't work as well as a good
one. And you pretty much have to install them to find out which are the
better ones; at least I do because I don't know what the better brands
are.

Additionally item:  when I recently went to a reputable shop for a good
thermostat instead of autozone stuff, my mechanic advised me to do what
he did... drill a small hold (1/8 inch) in the edge of the thermostat
to allow a bit of water to flow through even when closed. He showed me
several OEM german thermostats that had such holes.

Jim

On Jan 12, 2004, at 11:09 AM, gary hradek wrote:

> I have been puzzled by a higher than normal operating
> temperature for some time.   Yes I have replaced the
> thermostat and the relays and sensors.   What was a
> major clue was that when the heaters were on and
> running, the temperature would move down to the normal
> openned thermostat position, slightly above the
> halfway mark of the gauge.   The low speed fan and
> high speed fan would cycle on but it was as if the
> coolant was not making it to the radiator fast enough
> to cool the engine.   The hose to the radiator was hot
> and the hose from the radiator was warm.
>    I bought a thermostat housing on ebay which had the
> older style thermostats, older meaning that there is
> considerable more metal in it's composition.   The
> disc that opensand closes on the thermostat has metal
> and rubber.   The one from busdepot and the one I
> removed from the van both had the disc made entirely
> of rubber.   When I boiled the two styles of
> thermostats in a can of water what was clear was the
> the older style openned much further.
> Both openned but the one made mostly of metal openned
> in a way that clearly would allowed more flow to the
> radiator and yes it worked better for my problem.
> So is this style available new?    thanks gary
>
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