wimpywade94

hey, if i put in a 180 degree, or 160 degree thermostat wil it help stop me from overheating? thanks for the help.
wade

HaveBlue

Yes and no.
I will open sooner which allows the coolant to circulate sooner. However, if under a load, the coolant temperature can continue to rise. A cooler thermostat that opens sooner may also allow the coolant to recirculate too fast and not cool down sufficiently.

If you are overheating, there are a few areas you want to look at. All of which I just recently learned from experience.
1. Thermostat - if the thermostat sticks closed, the coolant will not circulate and you will overheat.
2. Radiator - if the radiator is corroded in the inside, it will prevent addequate coolant circulation. You can take your truck to a radiator shop and have an infrared temperature test performed on it. All they do is scan the radiator for even heat distribution. If there is uneven heat distribution, there is either a blockage on the inside (corrosion or foreign object) or on the outside (bugs or a bird as in the case on my '92 )
3. Coolant - When was the last time you flushed the radiator? If your coolant is more than 2 years old, you need to replace it with new coolant. This is something you can do yourself, however, it's better to have a shop with a disposal facility do it. I found that out the hard way.
4. Air flow - My engine overheated due to lack of air flow. I had replaced my crank driven fan with a 14" electric fan that wasn't up to the task of keeping a supercharged V6 cool under a constant load. I have since replaced the fan with a higher volume fan and I believe I fixed the situation.

I have the TRD 160° thermostat in my engine. I bought it to supress the pinging from the supercharger. If you don't have a supercharger, there is really no benefit to running a cooler thermostat. A cooler thermostat can also result in unburned fuel which can lead to deposits.

Hope that helps!

wimpywade94

wow....sure did, instead of putting in the cooler thermo and hoping for the best im going to flush out the radiator, and do the taurus fan install on it, ill make it fit...... that should keep it cool....it overheated once and blew the head gasket, dont want that to happen again if ya know what i mean...thanks a bunch dude...

wade

AgRunner06

And if your '94 is an auto, it won't shift into OD if you put in a cooler thermo.

wimpywade94

its not an auto but why does that affect the od? just curious. thanks

wade

Victor

Didn't you crack a head recently? I'd get the radiator cleaned out by a radiator shop and if that doesn't help it must be the water pump.

wimpywade94

no, blew a head gasket, the problem was, a water line that took hot water from the block and took it to the water temp sensor got some gasket maker compound in it when we torqued the bolts down, blocking it off partially, sense the water could send out more then it could take in, pressure built up and blew out the gasket, not realizing this i drove on it for about 40 miles which didnt help at all, the head technically is cracked but the cracks are between the intake and exhuast valves and are pretty common so i dont have to worry about them.

laterz
wade

AgRunner06

In the auto 3.0, it won't shift into OD until the engine reaches operating temperature. This allows the truck to warm up much faster.

wimpywade94

ok, thanks agrunner06

later
wade