car running cold!

[randy'sho]

I know it is colder than cold right now in the midwest and I never drive my SHO in the winters, but I am moving this weekend and I have a ??? My sho warms up nicely when I start the car and let it idle for 15 minutes or so, but as soon as i get rolling down the road my temp starts to drop off....like i said, i know that it is colder that a witches **** in a brass bra, but i just thought that i would see what you other northerns thought!

 

[yamahaSHO]

How old is your thermostat?

 

[randy'sho]

well i thought of that also (it is probably original) was just seeing if that was normal, really don't want to have to change the thermo before the move this weekend, but may have too!

 

[stangeater]

Wear gloves, thermal underwear, and your bibs.
I wonder if it even has a thermostat? If somebody has taken it out, that would explain why it gets cold as you drive. If I were you, I would put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator just for the trip. Don't tear into it in this nasto weather! Besides, where you're going, you don't have to worry about these winters anymore!

 

[randy'sho]

well it has to have a thermo, because it operates perfectly in the summers....i know what you mean about the cardboard idea, it just bugs me that it may just be my thermo when it is such an easy job! ahhhh what to do!

 

[TopGunnYFZ]

All of my sho's run cold when its this cold outside. Mine all sit right around the L if not a little under it, i'd say if its still in the NORMAL range you're fine!

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

get a piece of cardboard and put it in front of your radiator... used to do that in mn in my old beater truck because i the t-stat crapped out and i had to drive about 2 hours to find a place to get a t stat.

 

[randy'sho]

it runs below the bracket that is around normal.....granted it is sub zero here right now....lows in the -10/-15 and highs around 5/15!

 

[stangeater]

it runs below the bracket that is around normal.....granted it is sub zero here right now....lows in the -10/-15 and highs around 5/15!

Yeah, that's where mine runs too....just below the bracket.
If there wasn't a thermostat in your car, it would work fine in the summer. Without a thermo, the coolant is just constantly circulating which never lets it warm up very much because it's not in the engine very long before it gets run back out thru the radiator.

Cardboard is your easiest/quickest fix for your trip IMO. Then when you get down south, you can change the thermo.

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

running here in AZ without a thermostat would boil stuff quick like.

i miss the cold sometimes. but then i see my rust free car and i'm like... HAHAHA

 

[yamahaSHO]

Running without/open Tstat in AZ would keep the car cool. A stuck closed Tstat in AZ would overheat a motor quickly.

 

[randy'sho]

Yeah, that's where mine runs too....just below the bracket.
If there wasn't a thermostat in your car, it would work fine in the summer. Without a thermo, the coolant is just constantly circulating which never lets it warm up very much because it's not in the engine very long before it gets run back out thru the radiator.

Cardboard is your easiest/quickest fix for your trip IMO. Then when you get down south, you can change the thermo.

yeah i am sure it has a thermo cause it would run cooler in the summer months and the temp is perfect in the summer, and it would never warm up at all in the winter which it does like yours (just below the bracket) prob just the original one! ahhhh what to do! i really think it is normal for this time of year just seeing what others in cold zones are seeing! -11 on sat morning will be fun!

 

[smokin joe]

No matter if its -15 or 100, mine always runs right around the M in NORMAL. Even when its negative temps and im gong 70+ down the interstate it doesn't drop its temp much at all.

 

[stangeater]

No matter if its -15 or 100, mine always runs right around the M in NORMAL. Even when its negative temps and im gong 70+ down the interstate it doesn't drop its temp much at all.

Temp gauge stuck? lol

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

a car will overheat here in az without a thermostat. the thermostat cycle helps coolant do two things: 1, warm up the heater core in the winter so you can see through the windshield and not have to drive with a parka and mittens 2. in the summer it allows the coolant to stay in the radiator longer, thus getting cooler.

if the thermostat is gone, or gets stuck open, there is no cycling, so even though the coolant is flowing through the radiator, it is not getting as much time to cool down as it would if the thermostat closed. in extreme heat (phx qualifies for this) the coolant constantly flowing through the system without time to be stopped and have some of it cooled for a period of time will get hot enough to boil, especially if in stop/go traffic.

in this case (and to get back on topic) not having a thermostat working isn't gonna hurt you beyond being cold in the car. but seriously, if it were a daily driven car i'd recommend fixing it anyway. they're cheap enough and easy enough to get to for replacement.

 

[yamahaSHO]

a car will overheat here in az without a thermostat. the thermostat cycle helps coolant do two things: 1, warm up the heater core in the winter so you can see through the windshield and not have to drive with a parka and mittens 2. in the summer it allows the coolant to stay in the radiator longer, thus getting cooler.

if the thermostat is gone, or gets stuck open, there is no cycling, so even though the coolant is flowing through the radiator, it is not getting as much time to cool down as it would if the thermostat closed. in extreme heat (phx qualifies for this) the coolant constantly flowing through the system without time to be stopped and have some of it cooled for a period of time will get hot enough to boil, especially if in stop/go traffic.

Think about what you're saying. If the coolant is sitting in the radiator longer, coolant not in the radiator will sit in the hot block longer. Fail safe t-stats fail OPEN for a reason.

The radiator can bleed off heat fairly easy when it's not spending much time in the hot spots very long. Also, if there were a point (216F) where the water became warm at low speeds, the fan will kick on and will be able to shed heat. If the water became hot enough, the Tstat would go full open anyway....

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

Think about what you're saying. If the coolant is sitting in the radiator longer, coolant not in the radiator will sit in the hot block longer. Fail safe t-stats fail OPEN for a reason.

The radiator can bleed off heat fairly easy when it's not spending much time in the hot spots very long. Also, if there were a point (216F) where the water became warm at low speeds, the fan will kick on and will be able to shed heat. If the water became hot enough, the Tstat would go full open anyway....

I am thinking about what I am saying, my first draft of this post was a touch 'douchey' (if that's even a word...lol) my second draft started out with the logic escapes me as well but now that i'm thinking about it, i have this:

the coolant isn't sitting in the radiator, its FLOWING through the radiator. constantly, thanks to the water pump. so it doesn't have time to sit in the radiator like it would with a functioning closed t-stat.

i know i'm not crazy, my wife's car had a broken thermostat with it stuck open and she didn't tell me about it for 2 weeks. she just drove it with the windows down and the heater on because she thought i'd get mad her car was broken (woman logic... now that is tricky...)the car would stay cool when she was moving, but she would drive home on the parking lot known as the I 10 from down town to my place here in Ahwatukee off warner rd, stop and go the whole way and the car would overheat from not moving even with the fan full blast. this caused the car to crack the head, not 5 weeks after i replaced the head when it broke a timing belt.

its the opposite problem randysho is having if you think about it, just switch the word cold for hot, and switch the thinking of having the coolant sitting in the engine to heat up, with sitting in the radiator to cool down.

 

[frosho]

the coolant isn't sitting in the radiator, its FLOWING through the radiator. constantly, thanks to the water pump. so it doesn't have time to sit in the radiator like it would with a functioning closed t-stat.

Using the same logic, the coolant wouldn't be sitting in the engine long enough to get too hot. The purpose of the thermostat is to keep the coolant in the engine long enough to reach operating temp, not to keep it in the radiator long enough to cool down.

Your wife's thermostat was probably stuck only partially open, creating a slight blockage.

 

[randy'sho]

Using the same logic, the coolant wouldn't be sitting in the engine long enough to get too hot.

Your wife's thermostat was probably stuck only partially open, creating a slight blockage.

come on guys keep on the original topic please!

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

come on guys keep on the original topic please!

ok...

suck it up and drive it with no heat like a real man from the north would do...

or

suck it up and take 20min to replace the thermostat.

anyone disagree with this solution?

now back off topic...