Here's mine for comparison - the reason I ask is that until the temp gauge shows 1/4 , the lockup on the torque converter won't activate.

Quite annoying !

Yesterday , I left work around 4:45 P.M. Sunny and cool - temps in the mid 60's to low 70's, roughly.

The car had been sitting since I arrived at work around 7:15 A.M.

Fired it up, and proceeded to drive normally - city streets with a couple of lights, 40 MPH most of the time. The A/C was off. it took 1.6 miles, and roughly 10 minutes, for the gauge to reach 1/4.

Sound about normal ?

My buddy (SilverSSGuy) has a '00 SS , and he says his warms up at the drop of a hat.

The only difference between the 2 cars is that I used that Water Wetter - maybe it's more effective than I thought ?



Thanks !


Britt

 

It was 65 here this AM and after sitting all night mine reached TC lockup temp after 1 stop sign and about .5 mile down the road at 40 MPH. A/C off and straight dexcool.

 

Either your temp sending unit or guage is messed up or your thermostat is stuck open. Most likely your thermostat is stuck open and you need to buy a 160 now.

Jason

 

I have often wondered if the sending unit is "gooped up" - what I mean by that is that if you have ever looked in the coolant reservoir, you'll see that the dipstick looks like it has pollen all over it !

If that crap gets on a temp sensor, it's bound to affect it's operation.

Thermo -

I don't get as much heat in the winter as I would like, but it does work. It's the factory 195 stat - I do have the HPPIII set up to optimize for that temp stat, but that should not affect warm up. The temp gauge itself is a "dummy" - not accurate until it gets past 230 , or something along those lines - as were all the F's model year '99 & up.

But, it serves as a reference point.

I think I have a spare thermostat laying around in storage - I guess I need to add that to my list of things to look for.

Britt

 

Just for the heck of it I just did a "cold" start, let it idle until the temp guage reached 1/4 - the ECT on the Predator was reading 141 degrees.

 

And, is that something you can play with while driving - curious to see what temp the lockout comes into play at.

Thanks for the info !


Britt

 

Yeah, I can read it while driving - will try it when the car is cold. I looked at my temp guage this morning when the TC locked, and like yours the guage was close to 1/4.

 

Ran live data this morning, as soon as the TC locked up I looked down and the ECT was 141 degrees. Don't know if other factors (like trans temp) are involved - saw a post on another board where someone said their TC will start unlocking when the fluid gets too cool.