thermostat directionals

[saylor]

so im out changing the radiator hoses and coolant and thermostat today. I pull the top hose off, pull the thermostat housing off, and I find there is no thermostat in the damn car...I guess I should have come across this already but I put other repairs ahead of this one so im just getting to it..

but anyways - the FSM has no pictures for me to follow, and I didn't have an old one to take out to match putting it back in - which direction does the thermostat go? Springy end down towards the motor? I hope so b/c that's how I threw it back in there it will suck to undo it all again just to flip it over..

I drained all the coolant from the radiator petcock into a container, then back flushed until it was running clear water out the top of the thermostat housing. didn't see any trash or rust or orange water or anything stupid.

I cleaned all the old gasket off the housing, put new pookey on the block, then the gasket on, then the thermostat in, then put pookey on the housing and bolted it down. We good?

- saylor

 

[Zymurgy]

You are good.

 

[tallhair]

aren't you the one that had a lot of overheating problems or was it heatsoak? LOL

 

[saylor]

^^ yes. heatsoak I guess. as soon as I hit 190* my gas floe goes away. I guess this maintenance has the potential to remedy that. I can only hope so. I never imagined that there would be NO thermostat installed... I guess that means the coolant was just in continual flow in the system and never stopping in the radiator to cool off?

so my old lady walks by the computer as im researching this and says "we pulled the thermostat out of so many cars when we were kids. the car would overheat, we'd pull the stat out, and keep driving. it would make it run longer". damn who knew.

 

[saylor]

I need some more advice from the crew please -

finally got the other rad hose changed, filled up with antifreeze and distilled water - so far so good.

i had the cap off the radiator and started the car. i fully expected the motor to suck some large volume of coolant out of the rad and so i was standing there ready to top off...not much happened. certainly no huge volume of fluid transferred or anything.

let the car come up to temp,, figuring OK when the thermostat opens, THEN it will displace the large volume of liquid... nada.

instead of that happening, it looked sort of like a flow was going on in the radiator, like maybe the juice was moving continously,, there were ripples, or a current, if that makes sense...you could sort of see it moving left to right.

so i put the rad cap back on and shut the motor off and let it heat soak over 195*. started it again and temp dropped and stayed at 180*. shut off. heatsoak. start again. temp drop right back to 180*. did that a few times.

ill open the rad tomorrow and make sure it doesn't need a top off,, but can i call this good? is this how it should be acting? i guess i expected it to hit temp, thermostat opens, large amount of fluid exchanges between rad/motor, thermo shuts again, repeat.

it acted more like the thermostat was open just a bit, and small continual exchange of fluid between rad/motor was going on.

please advise!

thanks -
- saylor

 

[Mr C]

Sounds like you're good. If you had an air bubble it would have overheated. You did the right procedure (with the rad cap off) and seeing the flow means that any air bubbles worked their way out.

 

[Badvert65]

Thermostats don't snap open and closed. It is more gradual opening and closing. At 180 (or whatever) it will basically be fully open.

 

[1978 NYB]

You got it and that should be a cool running motor now.

 

[saylor]

thanks for splainin it to me. ill run it tonight on the road and see how it does.

thanks for the help!

- saylor

 

[saylor]

well so far so good. but its only 66* outside today. the real test will be this weekend when its 90+ outside. but so far so good.

after the run, car is parked, it pissed out some coolant out of the overflow tube.. i guess it is a little over full.. it will figure out its own level yes?

 

[saylor]

aight so today it was decently hot outside. i drove and drove. i stopped twice, at two different locations. both times, while the car was off, it pissed out coolant out the overflow tube.
i came home and sat in the driveway with the car in 'D'. it got all the way up to 210* and i shut it off.
i dont like it.
the top rad hose is rock hard. should that be?

it never overheated or steamed or anything - it kept running. but i dont like it. am i being a paranoid scared baby?
or is something amiss?

- saylor

 

[livininharrow]

aight so today it was decently hot outside. i drove and drove. i stopped twice, at two different locations. both times, while the car was off, it pissed out coolant out the overflow tube.
i came home and sat in the driveway with the car in 'D'. it got all the way up to 210* and i shut it off.
i dont like it.
the top rad hose is rock hard. should that be?

it never overheated or steamed or anything - it kept running. but i dont like it. am i being a paranoid scared baby?
or is something amiss?

- saylor

i dont see 210 as that critical a temp when sitting at an idle after a good run. most mopars or any engine for that matter should have 195 degree tstats. the engine runs more efficiently and will extend the life compared to a cooler running engine believe it or not. most newer engines i believe run 200 degree stats. the rad cap if functioning will pressurize the system and keep the coolant from boiling till well over 220 . the hard rad hose tells me the rad cap is doing its job. dont panic just yet. the engine temp and pressure will rise a little when the engine is shut off because of lack of flow. thus explaining a little pissing out the overflow. the rad cap at that point is doing its job once again. good luck i hope this was somewhat helpful in relieving a bit of your paranoia.

 

[commando1]

after the run, car is parked, it pissed out some coolant out of the overflow tube.

You do have the tube running to an overflow bottle, right??

 

[1978 NYB]

Has this overheating problem just started? If not and everything with the cooling system is working I would think you might have a problem with the radiator.

 

[1978 NYB]

Did it overheat with no thermostat in it?

 

[saylor]

commando not right now no overflow bottle. jason said the same thing. i guess thats in my future.

nyb - its never overheated. but to be fair, its had no thermostat the whole time ive owned it. PO had rigged up an electric fan also. that was the first thing i took off the car when i got it it was totally rigged even worse than something what id rig up...
i just installed a 180 thermostat and changed hoses and coolant. so i sort of dont know. thats probably why im so scared i got no trust in it yet and dont know what is the 'right' way it should be acting i got nothing to compare it to how it was...

 

[commando1]

Here is what is "right":
The needle shouldn't go more than 3/4's on the temp gauge whether in stop & go traffic or cruising on the highway on 98 degree days.
Anything more than that is
1. Thermostat not opening properly.
2. Radiator shot.
3. Fan clutch not working.
4. Shroud missing.
5. Internal water passages clogged.

ONLY if the engine is tuned to specs.

Or wrong head gaskets....

 

[polara71]

Here is what is "right":
The needle shouldn't go more than 3/4's on the temp gauge whether in stop & go traffic or cruising on the highway on 98 degree days.
Anything more than that is
1. Thermostat not opening properly.
2. Radiator shot.
3. Fan clutch not working.
4. Shroud missing.
5. Internal water passages clogged.

ONLY if the engine is tuned to specs.

Or wrong head gaskets....

See how that came back around ?

 

[saylor]

ya hell. im going to go get a new cap, and rig up an overflow bottle, and drive it. it will either a) blow up or b) run just fine. ill take either one at least it will be on the road.

or on the side of the road

 

[saylor]

got my antifreeze/distilled water ratio closer to 50/50, then I drove it like I stole it and it ran slicker than greased owl poop.

got the ol Ocean Spray overflow bottle plumbed in,, and it didn't overflow... figures.