'89 vert autotragic

Read many threads about OVERheating but none about UNDERheating.

Have to use my car for daily driving for a few weeks and so far everyday it warms up in the city but as soon as I hit highway speeds (70km/H and above) it cools off completely. To the point of it being below the minimum coolant mark.

It will eventually raise a little ( maybe an 1/8th ) and I will be stuck with no heat or luke warm heat. In the city heat is perfect inside and operating temps are fine. I heard running it cold is bad for economy and carbon buildup.

Now I'm thinking thermostat but am looking for opinions. It hasn't been too cold maybe around -10 to 0 degrees lately

Maybe I got lucky and have the most efficient cooling system in an fc

 

Thermostat stuck open.

 

+1 OEM is an NTC brand

 

Well at least it's an easy fix. Thanks. Any danger in running cold?

 

Speaking only from what I've heard, driving it hard when it is cold can cause accelerated wear, and apparently in the extreme it can warp housings.

Just drive it gently until it is warmed up (or in your case, until you replace the t-stat) and it shouldn't be a problem.

 

warped housings from cold running? that's a new one.

rotaries love cold temps actually, even running cold. the actual running temps were regulated higher in an attempt to increase economy and reduce emissions, but we drive sports cars, so performance is a factor.

accelerated wear is also a myth in these engines.


but since it hasnt been mentioned, you should double check your coolant level. if its low enough to barely reach the water temp sender its also pushing air into the heater core.

 

See, I had always been told that driving them hard when they were cold caused uneven heating of the plates and housings in the engine, which in turn caused warpage.

It's good to know I've been worrying about nothing. Although I'll still continue to be gentle with mine till it's warmed up.

 

whoever said it misrepresented the issue.

the issue when running a cold engine hard is that the warpage already present in the engine exposes the coolant seals slightly to the combustion pressure. if run too hard you could eventually cause damage to the coolant seals. generally i only consider this an issue on turbo engines, which have much higher internal pressure due to compounding of the turbo boost.

this is only an issue for a few minutes on a stone cold engine.

 

or no thermostat at all !