My water pump went out on me on my 272 y-block a couple days ago. I bought a remanufactured one and installed it. I also took out the old thermostat and replaced it with a 195. I'm not sure what kind of thermostat was in it before, but the temperature gauge was constantly around the 1/4 mark, all day. Now, it's around the 3/4 mark. I'm just a little scared it'll shoot up and I'll end up over heating. Is this normal, or should I replace it with a 180 or 185 thermostat? When I'm driving the gauge will read in the middle. But at idle it'll go up to the 3/4 mark. Also, I flushed the radiator and replaced the fan belt. I have the stock 4 blade fan on there as well. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Do you have any idea what temperature it is when the gauge is "half way up" or "3/4 way up"? Might get an IR temperature gun under there and see what's going on. My guess is that "boiling over", which is what you have to worry about, is somewhere around "all the way up". At least that's how it is on my 50s Chevys with stock gauges. I run 180 degree thermostats. 195 should be fine, although the gauge reading that high will make you nervous. It won't hurt the engine.
Likely a 195 degree thermostat is significantly higher than what was in there before and therefore the reading on the instrument is higher as the water where the sender reads will be hotter. Maybe you have the old one and the temp is marked on it?
Rock Auto claims 180 was the OEM temp. The 1958 Edsel manual talks about 2 thermostats. One is "high" temperature and one is "low." Low begins to open at 157-162 and is fully open at 182.. High begins to open 175-180 and is fully open at 202. The beginning of the Engine Cooling section says the high temp is standard, and the low temp is for use with "non-permanent type anti freeze". Probably now obsolete alcohol based.
Looks like my old thermostat was 160. I'll probably pick up a 180 this weekend. I have to go back in there and clean my pulleys anyways. I replaced the belt as well and it's starting to squeel. OT question, I replaced my belt with a 'v' belt (with the ridges), could this be the reason for the squealing or is it dirty pulleys and/or misalignment of the new belt? Thanks again for all of replies.
Usually they squeal because they are loose. But that's only a short squeal, when you rev the engine. If it squeals constantly, then it could be misalignment, or something funny with the pulleys. Kind of hard for us to diagnose it without at least seeing a few pictures
The old t stat should be marked someplace and that will let you have some idea what you took out of it. rebuilt water pumps can be a crap shoot, I have seen them with the impeller so warn that all they really did was stir the water. I would open the radiator cap and see if I had a good solid flow when the T stat comes open. You have to move water to cool one.
After putting on the old belt and readjusting the pulleys and fan, I found out that the 'pointer' was the culprit. It was scraping against the bottom pulley, so I just moved it over with a flathead so that it's barely sitting above. Is this safe? Is it even called a 'pointer'? I'm very inexperienced when it comes to working on cars, so please be patient with me. Thanks
That's called a pointer or pointer is close enough for us to understand. it is also called more correctly a timing pointer or timing tab. That should not cause your car to run hot though.
Thanks Yeah, I got a little off topic. Drove the car around for a bit and it's steadily at 3/4 on the temp gauge. I'm pretty sure a 180 thermostat would read right in the middle. Thanks again, everyone
Those old gauges were leant to read lower temps than a modern car's engine runs at. As suggested, use a non contact temp reader, or install a REAL gauge to see how she's running. 195-210 is not a problem, and engines run better and last longer running a bit hotter than we are usually used to. Remember, for every lb. of radiator pressure (check your rad cap) you will increase boiling temp by 3-4 degrees. A 5 lb cap will allow the engine to run at 225-230 before boiling over.
I remember in the old days, when I lived up North, we had Summer thermostats and Winter thermostats. The Winter ones were the higher temperature ones. The idea was, in cold weather, the higher temp one let the motor come up to a better operating range. 195 is pretty high. I would put a 160 in there and see what happens. Don
Yes, but in the old days, with different seasons, chokes that work, or didn't, short drive times for daily drivers, cars and engines really didn't last as long. Even back in the 70's growing up, a car with 100K miles on it was unusual. Most were shot around 80K, needing valve work, if not rings, as well. Lots of variable here, quality of oils, maintenance schedules, etc, but a lot had to do with cooler engine running temps. Not hot enough to burn off condensation in the crankcase will lead to ring and bearing failure, premature wear of other mechanicals, as the condensation causes acids to form in the oils, as well as lack of lubrication. The higher temps are better for this type of wear problems, as well as efficiency, and mileage.
when I was in high school auto shop, I saw the graph in the text book that showed engine wear vs. coolant temperature. I've never run a 160 thermostat since then. 180 in the old cars, 195 in the later models (late 60s or newer). But I'm in the minority...and I also like to put a lot of miles on my cars, so having the engine last a long time is meaningful.
Thanks for the information about thermostats. I was about to start a new thread about this (after reading some info using the search function), but you all have answered my questions I remember when I first got my 57 it would stall out when it was cold out. I'd warm up the car for a few minutes and it would still stall occasionally. This morning was the coldest it's been in a while. After starting her up and letting it warm up, she drove off like a champ. I think I'll do the whole winter/Sumner thermostat thing.
There's no reason to swap to a colder thermostat in the summer....the thermostat does not control the maximum temperature of the engine. Only the minimum temperature.
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