Gets Warm, should I be concerned

[PLP6400]

Well the weather has been getting into the low 90's latley and my Ranchero has been warming up. But only in traffic. Normally the guage reads a 1/4 way from cold when on the freeway. When I get off the freeway and I get caught at the first stop light the guage goes 1/2 way from cold and and then at the next light it goes 3/4 way from cold. After that the guage just stays there, no matter how many stop lights I get stopped at. It doesn't seem to make any difference if I have the air conditioning on or not. After I get back on the freeway to go home it takes about 3 miles of freeway driving and the temperture guage is back to a 1/4 way from cold. I know an electric fan would solve this problem, but the only electric fan that I have found that will fit my car is $420.00.
When the guage is is 3/4's of the way to hot, the engine still seems to run the same as when it is only a 1/4 way past cold.

Does anyone think I have a problem.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Need more info like thermostat temp, does it spew all over the road? I would assume you have checked coolant level? Also what type of coolant are you using? Are there any air pockets in your system? Have you flushed your system lately? I really dont know but I am sure these are the questions you will recieve.
Hope you figure it out.
Good luck
Steve

 

[PLP6400]

160 degree thermostat and no coolant spills out when I turn off the ignition or while running. Everything is new with about 7,000 miles on the engine and cooling system. I just wonder if this is normal for our old cars, as my 1999 Durango does not do this.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a I6 200 in my 66 Falcon and my thermostat is a 180 I believe. I think the other option for me is 195. 160 sounds low to me, not sure how that would affect your problem though.

-Dan in Atlanta (temporarily in Portland, OR)

 

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your cooling system has some excess cooling capacity in that you are seeing a swing in temps. Without an actual thermometer though, you do not know if the temp is swinging 40 deg or 10 deg. Anyway, as Dan mentioned the 160 deg thermostat may be a bit low. Depending on the magnitude of the temp swing, a higher thermostat may narrow the amount of swing. That assumes that it may actually be cooling down to 190 or 180 deg on the hwy.

With no other evidence of overheating, I would interpret the guage readings as normal. By all "new", I do not know if you mean the engine is new or the temp senders, radiator, thermostat etc. The old indicator guage and sending unit are qualitative only and can really only be counted on to use for "mental trending". The cooling system will vary in temp considerably more in an older car with older components. I am saying you need not change the thermostat for the simple reason that you do not appear to have any other problems.

A modern car such as your Durango has a lot more help in maintaining a more constant temperature. The big driver in maintaining a constant temp is the desire to control emissions. Besides being newer, most new car radiators are aluminum which cool better. They also have fan shrouds and seals around the radiator and the engine compartment in general so that air flow is managed better. To help maintain the temp, they have an engine management computer that will vary the timing, fuel delivery, and turn on and off 1 or 2 electric fans etc. So, like you said most new cars seem to operate at a constant temp with very little swing.
Doug