I'm finally starting to drive my car around and noticed that my coolant temps get up to about 210. It takes about 15min of city driving and it'll get there, by that time I usually turn the car off so don't now it it'll go up even higher. I also have a stock thermostat. I know changing it to a lower temp will help but my question is if 210 is normal for a stock thermostat with slight hot rodding

 

Sounds reasonably normal. With a stock 180° thermostat, the engine will run 195°-ish (in a 4th gen ). Add to that, a little city driving and the temp is going to go up. I assume your fan is thermostatically controlled and not on all the time?

 

I have a fan hotwired to a switch I have in the car. I had it on the whole time I was driving. It's a small fan though. one 10" which I'm using just for now

 

all sounds very normal. even with the fan on all the time it will get that hot. throw in a 160 degree stat and watch that needle go down.


210 is factory stock temp. = OK

 

It took mine 17 minutes to get to the middle line. Which is about 210. Problem is, it goes up to 226 and the fans kick on until it goes down. Something is wrong. I wish I had a ****ing clue WHAT. When I'm driving it stays about the same temperature though. A little past the middle bar. That's usually a sign of WHAT not operating properly in the cooling system.

 

From my knowledge those temperatures are normal and perfectly fine. The LT1 was made to run hot to keep emissions down. Before my 160* thermostat and reprogramming of fans, I was running nearly those same temps. I would not worry about it. You could try flushing your coolant system if that has not been done in a while, and it might lower temps a little. I believe the stock programmed fans do not kick on till about 215 for fan 1 and 225 for fan 2, but I could be wrong. Just my .02 cents.

 

Oh, I had it flushed last week. But, it's like it wants to keep getting hotter. That's why the fans come on. That's the only thing that is bothering me. I just want it to STAY at the same temperate and not WANT to keep getting hotter.

 

The only thing I can see being a problem if the temps kept rising might be that your thermostat may not be opening fully or at all for that matter, or something else might be blocking the flow of coolat, but I doubt the latter. You've prob checked the thermostat, and if you plan to get a new one I would reccomend getting the 160* therm and buying or making your own fan switch. I rarely see my temps rise above 180 w/ the therm and fans set at 180 and 190. Good luck.

 

Well, I replaced the thermostat, but it still could be sticking or whatever. How can I check to make sure it's fully opening?

 

Im not sure how to test and see if its opening while on the car, but i have read before that you can test it by placing it in a pan of water and heating it on the stove and it should open fully at the temp it should, which is 195 for the stock therm. Here is a really great site that will explain everything you need to know about 4th gen cooling: http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#cooling
Go about 2/3 the way down.

 

Stock thermostat is 180°.

Fans come on at 226°. High speed fans come on at 235°.

 

thanks guys, I'll try a 160 thermo and see how it runs. Can I just buy one from napa?

 

180 huh, dont know what I was thinking. Ok yeah read about the fans on your site after I posted too.

 

if you install a 160 thrmostat, you'll still need to reprogram your fans to come on earlier or install a manual fan swich to turn the fans on, or
the 160 stat doesn't do any good when your sitiing in traffic on a hot day.................
zoso

 

They may not have the correct one. Don't let them sell you a short SBC thermostat. You will probably have to get a Hypertech (#1008). Some auto places like Autozone may have them on the shelf, but you will have to ask for it by name.

You will probably run somewhat cooler overall. As already said, it won't help when you are not moving, but your temp should be a little lower before you stop. So, you might not creep up as high as before if you don't have to stop long. Having your fans come on at a lower temp will take all the worry out of it, but is not mandatory.