What should my coolant temperature be with a stock thermostat? My gauge reads 160 at the bottom and 260 at the top, with 3 marks in between and my needle pretty much stays at first mark above 160. And it takes forever to warm up, which means my thermostat is stuck, which would also explain why my heater sucks nuts.

 

on a stock t-stat mine usually read at the middle mark, about 210 I think. with the 160* t-stat and cooler temps lately I've been in between at maybe 180.

 

I figured it should be at the middle mark, which it very seldom hits. I can let it sit in my driveway and idle for 5 minutes and it won't even break 160.

 

Ok, so I put a new thermostat in it today, now it runs even cooler than before and my heater really sucks. What are the chances of a new thermostat not working from the start. The only thermostat the parts store had was a 180, and the one I pulled out of the car was a 180, so I assume that this is the stock temp, which seems low.

 

Did you put in the correct, long thermostat and bleed the air out of the system? Crusing along, you temp should be right where you described it in your first post (about the quarter mark). Your heat problem is probably a clogged heater core. Remove the heater hoses at the water pump and flush into one and then the other with a garden hose. Keep moisture off the opti.

 

What's the proper way to bleed the air out of the system, and can I flush the heater core by pulling the lines off the firewall to avoid getting the optispark wet, cause I can't afford a $500 distributor right now? The thermostat is just one I got from an auto parts store, looked just like the one I took out of it.

 

Look in my Tech Page "how to's" for coolant drain, refill and general cooling system info.

 

Can I flush the heater core by pulling the lines off the firewall to avoid getting the optispark wet?