I'm running into a really wierd problem. A few days ago, my car just never got as warm as it used to. The temp guage is a little more than a quarter up, and the electric fan never comes on. My heater vents never get that warm either.

I really doubt the thermostat considering I replaced it when I relaced the engine, and that was 850 miles ago. Thats way too soon for it to go out.

It isnt all that cold here either its in the upper 30's/ low 40's here in the morning. Anybody have a guess as to whats up?

 

It's possible. I am in warm/hot weather, and my temp never gets over 150/160.

 

change your coolant ratio
mopre coolant with make the cooling system less effiecent

 

The more water, the better. Just be mindfull of rust and ice.

 

Either you have too much water in your system and it's freezing up overnight (it happened to a friend of mine); you have too much coolant in your mixture and it can't dissipate the heat from your engine resulting in cool air coming from your heater and your elec. fan to not come on; you have low or very little coolant in your cooling system; or your thermostat is stuck open.

 

: Thermostat stuck open.

 

well its not a givin that its the % mixed he is running tha is cuasing this . id look at the temp. here in ATL. GA. its mid low 20's and then mid low 40's in the day and the 85 gs (100% stock motor) hardly moves above the 1st line on the temp guage. when it warms up to 50-60 it moves up to a more normal area. in my 81 gsl "the beast" i had a 1.5" core alum rad. and it kept the temp down in the southern summer and it wouldnt let the car warm up in the winter... so i had a 3x24" peice of cardboard i would block off part of the rad. with and it worked like a champ

 

Sure sounds like a thermostat problem. I installed a new one when I put in a new radiator and was confused by the unusually low and sometimes erratic temp control. When I checked the thermostat again I discovered that it had shifted slightly when I put, so that a small amount of coolant was bypassing the unit, causing the funny temps. With a little more care in the installation, the temp regulation was perfect, now it warms up quickly and sets right at 1/3 up on the gauge, regardless of how hard I'm pushing the car. This has been true for both summer and winter driving here in NE Georgia/Atlanta.
Ray

 

So the water will be better to dissipate the heat from the engine than the coolant? somehow I thought it was the other way around. I use 75% coolant 25% water.

 

Check (when COLD) the level in the radiator. If it is not FULL, your cap may be bad and not allowing coolant back in from the resevoir. Coolant level too low may cause your problmes. If that is ok, it does sound like the thermostat. It IS too early to fail, but they do!

 

Sorry, bud. Water is the main man when it comes to cooling anything. The coolant merely keeps the water from freezing and boiling too early (mostly from freezing), and it works to keep the coolant passages from rusting and keeing the waterpump lubricated. Basically it enhances the water. Usually a 50/50 ratio is perfect.

 

do you have a new pressure cap? $8 investment can save your engine.

 

cardboard will fix this quickly, cheaply, and easily.

I've got about 90% of my FB's rad blocked off now, and it's working like a charm.. temp gauge gets to about 1/3-1/2 and works.. a new thermostat is probably going to be installed in the spring to rectify this problem

 

yep I forgot to add that its a new radiator, and new radiator cap. but if the rest of you guys arent going more than a 1/3 up on the guage then mabey I'm over reacting. I allways figured it should be half way when fully warmed up.

 

Nope... Consider this: Most racers run 100% water on the track... With highly modded engines, turbos, you name it...

They just add a little bit of "Water Wetter" to lubricate the bearing in the water pump and they go.

 

Well its pros and cons. The main reason you add antifreeze to the water is to lower the freezing point, and raise the boiling point. Pure water cools excellent untill it boils.