78 nyb running cold.

[yorker78]

Can't seem to get this thing up to temp. Completely stock cooling system. Sender,wiring and gauge have all been verified. New fan clutch. Fan direction is correct. Have tried multiple 195 stats made sure they were centered in the housing. Hoses check out. water pump felt good. it's not set really retarded or really rich its sitting at about a 3rd on the gauge. Plenty of warms days here where there should be no need for any rad covering to help. Will check with digital thermometer at sender to get an exact number but I know for sure it's running too cold. Kindof getting stumped unless I keep getting bad thermostats. They test good on the stove but maybe functioning differently inside the engine? Any ideas? Thx

 

[65Port]

Gauges lie.. let us know what the digital thermometer says. I would be surprised if it reads low. Does it run well? Have good heat? If so, more than likely gauge or sender.
I had a flaky ground cause a temp gauge to spike before I caught it. I did what you did;
purchased a few stats and boiled them etc.. I thought it was overheating.. Was not. Fill us in on the digital temp when you get to it.

 

[Boydsdodge]

What temp are you getting up to?
One third on the gauge is a good place, my cars all sit there when things are good.

 

[Sixpactogo]

Many years ago I had a 71 Dodge pickup that did what your NYer is doing. My temp gauge was reading about half of what it should be and I was freezing my *** off going down the road in the winter time. I didn't believe it when I was told my radiator was shot. It didn't leak and looked pretty good.
However, what transpired was the fins were eaten up from all the winters with road salt getting in the grille from following semis on shitty roads. The shop foreman ran his finger up the fins on the radiator and they folded up like melted butter. He told me the fins are in there to absorb and hold the heat to a point but were not doing their job and the radiator was cooling down too fast. To make a long story short, I got a new radiator and finally got my heater back. Run your finger up those fins and see if they bend easily. Bet they do.

 

[yorker78]

Gauges lie.. let us know what the digital thermometer says. I would be surprised if it reads low. Does it run well? Have good heat? If so, more than likely gauge or sender.
I had a flaky ground cause a temp gauge to spike before I caught it. I did what you did;
purchased a few stats and boiled them etc.. I thought it was overheating.. Was not. Fill us in on the digital temp when you get to it.

Tested a few times while I was out 170-180 it doesn't run as good as when it was reaching full temp and it has less heat than it did. I ran sender wire to ground and got full hot so I figured the gauge was working right.

 

[65Port]

Perhaps see if Sixpactogo's advice applies here. Bad fan clutch out of the box? Maybe take it off and see if the temp goes up to the rated 195 temp? I've only seen fan clutches cause overheat issues, not what you are seeing. Looks like you have eliminated the gauge at this point. Anyone else have anything to add? Weird one.

 

[yorker78]

Perhaps see if Sixpactogo's advice applies here. Bad fan clutch out of the box? Maybe take it off and see if the temp goes up to the rated 195 temp? I've only seen fan clutches cause overheat issues, not what you are seeing. Looks like you have eliminated the gauge at this point. Anyone else have anything to add? Weird one.

Yes that what was very interesting I'll be checking that when I get a chance here. I was worried about that with the clutch. My old one was leaky and engaged hard from startup so I changed it.. I was surprised when there was little difference so I became suspicious of a dud. as for removing it it I haven't got another fan to bolt right to the water pump pulley so I can still run it safely but I could see if I could borrow one from a friend. I agree, weird one indeed.

 

[yorker78]

What temp are you getting up to?
One third on the gauge is a good place, my cars all sit there when things are good.

170-180 right now. It used to sit right at half. And perform better with better mileage definitely used to be hotter up near 195-200. I know it's december but we're having the easiest winter I've even seen here in Regina. It's like fall weather and the last 2 falls I was sitting up at half running the car in the same outside temps with no rad coverage. It's 0 degrees right now gonna be a tropical christmas

 

[yorker78]

Many years ago I had a 71 Dodge pickup that did what your NYer is doing. My temp gauge was reading about half of what it should be and I was freezing my *** off going down the road in the winter time. I didn't believe it when I was told my radiator was shot. It didn't leak and looked pretty good.
However, what transpired was the fins were eaten up from all the winters with road salt getting in the grille from following semis on shitty roads. The shop foreman ran his finger up the fins on the radiator and they folded up like melted butter. He told me the fins are in there to absorb and hold the heat to a point but were not doing their job and the radiator was cooling down too fast. To make a long story short, I got a new radiator and finally got my heater back. Run your finger up those fins and see if they bend easily. Bet they do.

Thank you I disregarded the rad. that's something I definitely overlooked as it looks good and no leaks. I will definitely check that when I get a chance. luckily it hasn't seen much salt in its lifetime and this is the first december ive driven it but we haven't used any salt yet as we're having the warmest winter ever in my lifetime. I'm still gonna check that out for sure thx

 

[1975.Imperial]

What was the weather like when it was operating normally compared to when this problem started occurring? This may be too simple, but it's colder now, so the car might just be running cooler because of that. Even considering that it's been a mild winter thus far, it's still been sitting around 0° (here in Ontario at least), which is quite a difference from the ~30° that we've seen during the warmer months.

In my experience, these cars just cool really well too. The only time mine's ever gotten close to overheating was when I was doing hot laps around a field with only 1/2 the coolant in it (even then it barely got over operating temp). Last time I drove mine (start of Nov, ~0°C), it was doing the exact same thing as your's. Ontario salts their roads so I've got mine parked for the winter, but I'm hoping that come summer, this "over-cooling" problem will become a blessing, so I'm not currently looking into it

 

[yorker78]

What was the weather like when it was operating normally compared to when this problem started occurring? This may be too simple, but it's colder now, so the car might just be running cooler because of that. Even considering that it's been a mild winter thus far, it's still been sitting around 0° (here in Ontario at least), which is quite a difference from the ~30° that we've seen during the warmer months.

In my experience, these cars just cool really well too. The only time mine's ever gotten close to overheating was when I was doing hot laps around a field with only 1/2 the coolant in it (even then it barely got over operating temp). Last time I drove mine (start of Nov, ~0°C), it was doing the exact same thing as your's. Ontario salts their roads so I've got mine parked for the winter, but I'm hoping that come summer, this "over-cooling" problem will become a blessing, so I'm not currently looking into

Awesome it's the same weather here was 4 above today when I drove it. and I've ran in this same weather with success before just earlier in the year of course. I had good performance mileage and heat the last 2 falls and it was sitting up at half on the gauge running the car in the same outside temps with no rad coverage. I do agree these cars cool very well. 2 summers ago I got stuck creeping in the craven jamboree lineup for nearly 45 minutes after a long cruise and the gauge didnt really come up it just held nice. rcmp was so surprised I made it through lol it was great. I just really want to know what might have changed as it's ran hotter in the same weather. I don't really want to modify anything now to make it hotter as I also like having that peice of mind in the summer. I have a few more checks to do if nothing then I'll just play around with rad coverage to get it up for the next few weeks and we will see where it runs in May ish

 

[Boydsdodge]

I would just to the air restriction to rad. I remember doing that on my c-bodies when they were my daily winter cars. My wagon stays perfect temp all summer even in Woodward crawl traffic, I would much rather be cool in summer than too cool during winter.

 

[Wildbunch02]

Put some cardboard in front of the radiator to heat it up a bit.

 

[yorker78]

I would just to the air restriction to rad. I remember doing that on my c-bodies when they were my daily winter cars. My wagon stays perfect temp all summer even in Woodward crawl traffic, I would much rather be cool in summer than too cool during winter.

Yea I have been to keep it up.The car I'm usually driving this time of year I keep half covered. This Yorker does the same as ur wagon all summer. I just know it made hotter temps in the same climate with no coverage.