Joshw0000
SHO Member
My SHO has been my daily for 3 years now. I'm running 1 degree cooler plugs, 170 degree stat, 93 octane tune, CAI, 3 bar MAP, and a catch can. I do all of my own maintenance.
I have my Livewire TS set up to alert certain min / maxes. This past Saturday, it alerted me on coolant temp. The car was cold when I cranked it, I drove for about a mile and it began flashing at 220 degrees (my alert) and continued until 230 degrees when I pulled over and shut the car off. I checked the coolant reservoir and it was barely low so I added a couple oz of distilled water, crunk it and all went back to normal. My max temps stayed between 200 - 205ish. The next day, on a cold crank, it did the exact same thing. Max temp jumped to 230 on a cold crank, then it leveled back out and stayed at a normal temp for the rest of the drive.
I've started watching it more and more each day (it happens daily now) and I've noticed that the car is actually cooling a few times before it reaches max temp. So it may climb to 130, cool 15 -20 degrees, climb to 150, cool, 170, cool, and so on until it finally reaches 230 max temp. It never exceeds 230ish, which I know is actually a safe temp, but this isn't normal for my car.
Notes - I plan to do a some service within 500 or so miles (oil/filter, clean air filter, coolant, trans, RDU, PTU). I don't typically do a full flush of my trans fluid or coolant. I drain the trans/refill and drain coolant resevoir/refill every 10K miles. And I use Motorcraft Orange coolant diluted 50/50 with distilled water.
I'm thinking the thermostat might be going out. What are your thoughts? I don't abuse my car beyond occassional pulls from a stop light. And I live in a generally mild climate. Average temps this week are in the 70's.
I have my Livewire TS set up to alert certain min / maxes. This past Saturday, it alerted me on coolant temp. The car was cold when I cranked it, I drove for about a mile and it began flashing at 220 degrees (my alert) and continued until 230 degrees when I pulled over and shut the car off. I checked the coolant reservoir and it was barely low so I added a couple oz of distilled water, crunk it and all went back to normal. My max temps stayed between 200 - 205ish. The next day, on a cold crank, it did the exact same thing. Max temp jumped to 230 on a cold crank, then it leveled back out and stayed at a normal temp for the rest of the drive.
I've started watching it more and more each day (it happens daily now) and I've noticed that the car is actually cooling a few times before it reaches max temp. So it may climb to 130, cool 15 -20 degrees, climb to 150, cool, 170, cool, and so on until it finally reaches 230 max temp. It never exceeds 230ish, which I know is actually a safe temp, but this isn't normal for my car.
Notes - I plan to do a some service within 500 or so miles (oil/filter, clean air filter, coolant, trans, RDU, PTU). I don't typically do a full flush of my trans fluid or coolant. I drain the trans/refill and drain coolant resevoir/refill every 10K miles. And I use Motorcraft Orange coolant diluted 50/50 with distilled water.
I'm thinking the thermostat might be going out. What are your thoughts? I don't abuse my car beyond occassional pulls from a stop light. And I live in a generally mild climate. Average temps this week are in the 70's.
