thermostat problem

[BeatDaSHO]

hey. I posted about this question a couple days ago and a couple people said that my thermostat was bad. I wasn't getting the best gas mileage.....around 15mpg city. Also when i drove around the thermostat gauge barely came off the C so i replaced the thermostat. Nothing changed after i replaced it. The temperature still doesn't come off the C. It goes up a little but barely any. I don't get it. I'm not sure if it improved my gas mileage or not. I'll have to drive on it for this week to see. I am thinking that my thermostat sending unit is bad but i'm not sure. Why is this damn thing not going off of the C and is this causing me to get bad gas mileage??? i don't get it. please reply back. thanks.

Greg

 

[sdpatt]

The way that the low coolant temperature causes a reduction is gas mileage is that the engine control computer thinks that the engine is still in the warm-up stage and therefore keeps the fuel mixture richer than normal. Not until the temp gets into the NORMAL range does the ECC enter the "closed loop" mode where the various engine sensors are used to keep the mixture on the 14:1 program for best emissions and power.

With the 180 degree thermostat in my engine, the temp gauge sits below the "L", but above the low end of the NORMAL range. If your temp gauge is still reading below the NORMAL range with a new thermostat, there are a couple of possibilities. One is that the temperature sender (less than $10) is not working properly. The other is that the new thermostat is not closing all the way. What brand and temperature range did you install?

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Scott

1991, 252K miles, glass hood, police grill, SVO shifter, Catz fogs,
K&N, 73mm MAF, Superchip, PP Y-pipe, Borla cat-back, 190 lph pump
Eibach/Tokico/polyurethane, SHO Shop front & rear strut braces,
16x7.5" Moda R1, 225/55ZR16 Bridgestone RE730, -1 deg camber x 4,
Class II hitch, Silver award at the SHOklahoma Car Show

 

[BeatDaSHO]

yo man.........well i took the wire off the sending unit and tried cleaning the sending unit a little bit. Today i was driving around and the temp got up into the A which it has never gotten into. I drove to school today and it finally was between the black line and the L so that was really good also. I'm not sure if it's working perfectly yet but we'll see. I am going to calculate my gas mileage and see if I am getting better or not. The company is called Stant and it's 195 degree thermostat.