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Should I be placing a piece of cardboard in front of my radiator?  Should
I insulate the heater hoses.  Obviously the thermostat works, I was told
that there is no warmer thermostat available.
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wow - brrrr! that's cold.

Why do you say it (obviously) isn't your thermostat? What if it is stuck
open? My van exhibited almost identical symptoms last year during a cold
snap (-10F - about as cold as it gets here)- it would get kind of warm if
I let it idle, the temp gauge would barely register and then bottom out
as soon as I started moving. I was dressed for ice fishing and I was still
freezing. During subsequent observations that winter, I noted that below
+20F the amount of heat available at the vents varied in proportion to the
outside temp. I replaced the thermostat and it's been fine since. I don't
think insulating the heater hoses wouldn't have much effect in terms of
your engine temp getting up into operating range. However, the thermostat
continuing to send coolant to the radiator when the engine is too cold
would - and diminished heat would be a consequence of that.

Of course, I'm not a mechanic - just sharing my opinion.

Doug Fitz-Randolph
Yarmouth, ME
'90 Syncro