well, there are alot of posts and info on the web about such issues, my truck always ran a little cool, so when I removed the intake to do the pleneum mod, it was no supprise to find a 180 stat fitted. Got the complete pleneum kit from hughes engines and everything went smoothly, fitted the original spec 195 stat that came in the kit.

Thing is, the truck was running even cooler than before, just around the 130 mark

scanner showed the same temp as gauge displayed, and laser thermometer showed this was also correct on the thermostat housing,

Removed the 195 stat from hughes, and tested it in a pot on the stove, I have a very accurate thermometer and watched closely, the 195 stat started opening at 115,
and by 125 degrees it was an 1/8" open at the rim !

went to the autoparts store and bought another 195 stat and fitted that, truck now heats up and maintains temperature perfectly, scanner shows running temp at 203, gauge sits just below the 210 mark.

I have been an auto tech for 30 years and this is the first time I have seen a bad brand new stat, it was clearly marked 195 , but opened at 115 !

Thought I would post this little adventure in the hope that it may help others with cooling issues, especially after fitting a pleneum kit, if my stat was faultly, I guess its possible they are either poor quality, or a batch could be bad, or maybe just a one off ? I guess if you have the thermometer, you are always best to test a stat before you fit it, and the main lesson I have learnt, is just because the stat is brand new, dont mean it works correctly !

 

Yeah you should always check your t stat before putting them in I learned that the hard way after I changed mine 3 times in a week haha

 

I wish I had your experiences... it's been mine that at least three out of five are faulty out of the box... some are worse than others in that they flat out don't open, others too soon, others too late..

I've no clue what's going on with 'stats lately.. It doesn't matter what style you purchase, either.. I've seen barrel style that cost a bit more than exposed spring style that are just as faulty..

I'm currently running a $4 stant 180*, that actually does it's job.. this is after going through six that didn't work right..

amazing, no?

 

I learned that one in 1975 when a brand new thermostat didn't open until well past the boiling point. That sucked. Ever since, I heat them in a pot of water first -- the thermostat costs less than the coolant you lose doing the job. The cool part: Water boils at 198F here, so I can test a 195 degree thermostat without even using a thermometer.

 

Off topic but how does your water boil at 198?

 

atmospheric pressure has a direct impact on what point water boils.. 212*f or 100*c is the point water boils at sea level.. go higher? doesn't take as much temp.. lower? takes more..

 

Huh imagine that you learn something new every day

 

DA is a biyatch... for instance, (and this is going to be fun!!), your 318 is likely putting more power to the terra than Unreg's finely tuned and maintained 360 every day..

 

I'm down about 50HP at this elevation, and down about 95HP at 12,000'. But on the up side I can get away with running four or five octane points below any given tune's stated requirement, so it's a little cheaper at the pump.

It's fun getting the old truck down to the lower elevations when we go on road trips. I can't help but mash down on the go pedal to play with all of that free horsepower.

 

I just bought a 195 tstat and it dosent open fully until 210...is that ok or should i get a different one?

So I did more testing, it starts to open at aroun 204-207 and fully opens at 210 but it will close exactly at 195. Let me know what I should do, the reason why Im re doing my tstat is because it takes forever to warm up and also is leaking from the gasket but it runs right below 210 cosistently.