To Stat or NOT to Stat...That is the Question?

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Bea

Bea

Dodge Damsel
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
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Lakeland, Florida
Need input from you guys on whether to keep my thermostat or remove it. Some have told me to keep and others told me to remove it. I've flushed the radiator & put 50/50 Antifreeze in her, new thermostat & new gasket...but she's running hot! What to do?

1962 Dodge Lancer GT: she has a working heater, but no A/C (yet).
 
Bea said:
Need input from you guys on whether to keep my thermostat or remove it. Some have told me to keep and others told me to remove it. I've flushed the radiator & put 50/50 Antifreeze in her, new thermostat & new gasket...but she's running hot! What to do?

1962 Dodge Lancer GT: she has a working heater, but no A/C (yet).
Click to expand...

A thermostat does not control how hot the engine is going to get. It only controls how cool it will run.
So, put the thermostat in it and look for the real cause of the overheating.
1) How hot is it getting?
2) Do you have a mechanical or electrical temperature gauge?
3) Are you using a clutch fan?
4) How far is the fan from the radiator?
5) Do you have a fan shroud?
6) When is it getting hot, in slow traffic or at highway speeds?
 
New does not equal good. the new stat may be bad. Do not run without a thermostat

Is it in right side up? Could you have an air bubble in the system? Are you getting heat out of the heater?

Pull the heater hose that is UNDER the stat, if you can, from the heater. Fill the system til you get water out of the heater/ hose, reconnect. Warm up with cap off, watch level carefully.
 
Keep it. You will over heat with out it. What temp is it? 180 to 195 is what you should have. Is it really over heating or is the temp gauge reading high? If both the gas gauge and temp gauge are running high it is most likely the instrument voltage regulator is bad. Have you tried a new sending unit?
 
Sounds like the radiator cores plugged up. Use the Mr Gasket O.E. style of thermostat.Take it to a radiator shop and get it tested.
 
slant6/4speed said:
Keep it. You will over heat with out it. What temp is it? 180 to 195 is what you should have. Is it really over heating or is the temp gauge reading high? If both the gas gauge and temp gauge are running high it is most likely the instrument voltage regulator is bad. Have you tried a new sending unit?
Click to expand...

180 is what I have in the car.
 
As you can tell from the responses Bea, we're going to need a lot more info on your overheating problems to be able to nail it down. Under no circumstances should you remove the thermostat, it's job is not only to control the temp. but it also controls the flow of the coolant. Racers will remove the thermo but install an orifice in it's place. Iron takes a certain amount of time to give up it's heat to the coolant and the radiator core needs a certain amount of time to remove that heat, it's called retension time. If the thermostat is removed the coolant flows so fast that it hasn't time to obsorb the heat or transfer it to the rad core. Remove the thermostat and drill a tinny hole in the disc to let air out as your filling things and while it's out put it on the stove in a pot with water and an old style tube thermometer. Heat up the water and if it's a 180 degF thermo (which it should be) you should see the disc start opening just before 180 and be fully open at 190. The water will boil long before you hurt the thermo. I test every thermo before installing and have found bad ones fresh out of the package.
 
mine tends to run a bit warm also and i cant afford to get a new radiator right now so i put a bottle of wetter than water in it and it came down about 8 degrees
 
Thanks to all for all of the advise...much appreciated! Also...keep those pics coming of all you "Hot Mopar Guys"!
 
Quick radiator check - With the lower radiator hose off, cover the outlet with your hand and fill the radiator. When full, remove hand and check flow. If it comes gushing out, rad is okay. If it runs out slow, gurgles out, etc. - it's plugged.
 
Does turning the heater on full-blast-hot make any difference? If so, this confirms you need to get your radiator professionally cleaned.
 
Hey Bruceo2011 & C130Chief!

Update onthis thread.......

I went to the radiator shop and the old radiator is in great working condition & no signs of rust. Performed all the standard tests, pressure, looked for holes...nothing. The guy did a backflush and a couple of things were replaced: the the radiator cap (missing rubber seal) and the Temp. Sender (just flat out old!), new Thermostat (Stant # 45358-SuperStat) opened and is in working order and the T-Gasket, of course! The Voltage Regultor was replaced, as well. However, the Heater Core was leaking...so, a temporary "bypass" has been done until I cen gether back in to be fixed. She is in better cooling condition. Thanks Again!
 
sounds like you got some strange advice to get rid of your stat.

if you close your eyes all your car problems will go away... I fix all my problems nightly
 
Very good, very sound thermostat info and mythbusting here. I agree with almost all of it, except for their preference for the old balanced-sleeve type thermostat. Those work fine, there's nothing wrong with them, but I like the Stant Superstat better.
 
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