On my Ram, after driving for a while, the heater gets warm, but not incredibly hot. We have just recently been have cooler temps, like 45 and below. my temp guage never gets above i'd say, 150. I have a 170 thermo installed, should i go back to the factory? Or do I have other problems, or even a problem at all? I have sent a pic of the temp gague.

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Having the cooler thermostat will cause your heat to be not as hot as it should. I have a 160* in my car, and the ONE time I drove it in the winter I defineatly noticed the lack of heat compared to my other vehicles. I would also check the coolant level. The less coolant you have in the system, the less the heater core gets.

 

My guess is the thermo. With a 170 installed and in the colder temps its not gonna get over probably 150 like you say. I have the factory one and even on the highway it is always just under the 200 mark. cause its alot colder here, 10-20 lately

 

Even if it is a 170 he should still reach 170 if it is working right. There may be a chance the thermo is bad or your guage is bad. How old is the thermostat? Even in 0 degree whether if you run it long enough it should reach max temp, it'll just take a while.

 

Alright guys. Thanks fo the info. As far as the thermo goes, it is only a few months old, but I guess anything is possible.

 

170 is too cold... you might be running in open loop mode too (not sure if its 166 deg or 172 deg for closed loop) which will hurt your gas milage and kill your cat quicker. 180 should be the minimum