my 350 is running way to cold at about 100 - to about 130. isnt that way to cold to be running at???? i justy changed my thermostate because i thought it was stuck open but i guess that wasnt the reason

Stock temp gauge malfuctioning? Bad temp sensor? Try hooking up a aftermarket temp gauge to it. Just some ideas for ya. -Nick.

how about you check the thermostat and make sure it isnt a 160deg instead of 195 because we all know how much the kids at Autozone know about cars...

The only way to test a thermostat is to take it out, and put it in boiling water.. and even then, it won't tell you at what temp it opens, only if it does or not.

The faster and much less messier way to check, is to buy a $10 mechanical temp guage and screw it into the side of the head, where the stock temp sensor is. Run the engine, let it get hot, and see what its running at.

Put the thermostat in the water before you start to boil the water. Then use a cooking thermostat(poker with temp gauge on it) stick that in the water and that will tell you the temp. of the water.

or just take the thermostat out and look ad the numbers on it the new ones have the temp marked on them or just go out and buy a 50 temp gauge and install it to find out yours was fine in the first place...

Isn't there any other possiblities then just his thermostat?

Have you heard your fans kick on at all?

Out of all the thermostats Ive installed in years of being an auto tech Ive only installed 1 that was bad out of the box but its possible. But definatetly check the temp at various points on the cooling system (you can get IR pyrometers for under 100$ now)to verify your guage. If your thermostat is working its almost impossible for your car to run that cold.

Yea a bad thermo will make a car run hot, not cold.

nay impossiable for an V8 to run that cold without some sort of extra large cooler and monster fans running all the time in -40 temps.

If you can get a V8 to run 150f or less on all stock stuff, call riplies.

I have the same problem with my 350.It hardly gets above 120.My fans run all the time could that the cause of the problem?

I have had thermostats stick in the open position and prevent my car from reaching operating temp. Once was on my 87(2.8) and the other time was on my 91(5.7 TPI). The 87 was so bad the heater never got warm and the trans didn't seem to want to go into overdrive. I would first verify proper guage function and then I would try another thermostat.

My 180F t-stat stuck open and my temp gauge never moved off dead cold.
A t-stat fails WIDE-open (99% of the time), and the temp will never go above cold, especially if you have a belt driven fan like me.
A too cold car is usually due to the thermostat, i'd double and triple check that first.

Try no thermostat...........it will run below the first slash mark(160?) all day long. I actually still need to throw a thermostat in it come spring, guy before me did that. The only time it would get warm was when it was parked.

I say hook up a aftermarket guage or scanner(OTC 2000 or something) and see what temp. it is really at. -Nick.

My Temp no jokle runs at like 130 ish when i am driving no joke... when i let it sit there thought its warms up. it will not get hot at all. the wheather i was thinking might have something to do with it.

And its not the thermostat i thought it was bad and replaced it but it continues to do the same thing and no my fans dont turn on untill around like 220 deg.

And i did verify that my gauge was working right but to my supprise my gauge is off my 30 degreez but not in the direction i was looking for ......

basically when it says its running at 160 its really at 130....... yeah so its really running at 130.................

Where are you located?
I highly doubt wherever it is, with a working t-stat, you can get the car running below operating temperature. Up here it needs to open the t-stat, and i'm talking -30*C.

Try grabbing the highest temp t-stat you can find, 210* or whatever it is. About $6. Put that in (it's an easy swap in your car eh?). Drive it around for a little while and make sure it'll go higher on the gauge now. If the t-stat is working, raising its opening point should raise the operating temp.

When the temp in your block is below the opening temp on your stat, say 170*, then it should be completely closed, and there is no cooling effect whatsoever. Assuming you're not limping along at a 10:1 AFR, it should heat up the coolant in the block quickly.

I'm really out of ideas, if you can't get your engine up to the nominal opening temp of your t-stat, it must be leaking through, I can't think of any other possibility. Be sure to post what you do to solve it, you've really piqued my interest.

*Oh, you aren't running your heater core right? That acts like a mini radiator. Try keeping it completely off just to be sure.

Guys. Don't forget the return hose that runs to the radiator tank.
If the "heater type" hoses are connected incorrectly (remember the oil cooler circuit and the vacuum valve with 3 hoses) it is possible for the block to circulate plenty of coolant thru the radiator during cold weather with the thermostat completely closed to overcool the block.
(wow, that's one long sentence)

i just put a new thermostat in it..... 180

and...? No dice I guess?

Well, let us know what cures it, i'm curious...

i ran across a guy that was running a reverse flow water pump that was doing the same thing. it was blowing the thermostat open all the time

On all stock parts its very hard to run below 150F because of the trans.

Trans fluid is so hot they use a cars typical 200-220f water temps to cool your trans fluid.

Why its hard to run that low. Tran fluid will heat the water to 150F+ on its own.


Now a stick car can vary some or thoes with aftermarket parts.....

But if you can run that low for real your hurting performance big time.
Temps below 175F are bad 185-190 is the best.

With no AC stuff, true cold air and an aluminum air dam my V6 run 185-190 without a fan. Fan only need to run if I sit still for 4-5 mins.

Most engine wear occurs during the first few minutes immediately after starting.

It's estimated that the wear of internal combustion engine piston rings is as high as 0.001" per 1000 miles of operation when the oil temperature is below 170 degrees F.

If 0.006" is allowed for maximum wear, how long can the engine run with oil temperatures below 170° before it wears out?" Assuming a 6:1 crank to wheel ratio, an average running speed of 3000 rpm, and 28 in. diameter tires.

I'm not trying to test anyone's math skills so, a general answer would be, "not very long."
If you drove you car 2 hours a day it might last 3 months at the most.

rgarcia: people saying stuff like that has always confussed me... say i put a 160* thermostat in and started the motor for the first 6 -7 minutes it is that same as any other motor with a 195* thermostat but after that what is the difference as there is oil in all the same places and if there is going to be any friction it would generate heat in a localized spot which would be cooled by the oil and lubricated at the same time as it would raise the oil temp in that area which is what oil is supposed to do

btw my rs has had a 160* thermostat in it for 6 years and after about 100k miles still runs like new

All thermostat temp number means is at what temp does it open and allow coolant to flow through the block.

Some want their car at optimum temp faster. So coolant doesn’t flow or cool until the thermostat get to 195F or what ever……… Though the engine is probably much hotter then that.

Ugh.

I put 140k miles on a car that spent 110k of it with a 160 thermostat in it. At 90k I pulled the heads for porting and put a cam in it and the cross hatching was very visible and there was no lip whatsoever.

Coolant flows when the thermostat is closed, full flow is acheived when the thermostat opens completely. If the fan is on all the time, you're driving on the freeway, and you have a low temp stat in cold weather... its possible to be at 150 or lower but its really unlikely. Factory gauges and sensors arent exactly the pinnacle of accuracy, nor is the sweep on the gauge an even amount, on at least a Firebird (dont know about the Camaro but I'd bet its the same). On my GTA with a 350 in 20F weather, defroster on, fans running (dont know the answer to that), in some nearby hills the car was running less than 160 with a 195 stat so... weather and fans are a significant factor in the equation.

If you wanna be a tech nazi about it yea coolant does flow but when a thermo goes bad and sticks closed. Tis why your car will over heat and barff coolant all over the place. Its not open / not enough flow, you are now over heated.
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Though I don't care what temp thermo ya run, don't matter cept for how long it takes the car to warm up. A 165 thermo don't make a car run any cooler when your beatin on it.. It just open sooner. Car is still gonna run what ever temp it runs at.

Exactly. I hate people that want to run a 160 stat on a car that overheats... that isnt going to fix it. The radiator and fans control the temperature, and with enough fan and cooling space you could make it run at just above ambient if you wanted to.

I have seen thermostats stick open... odd, but happens.

I don't think you're "confussed," you made my point very clear;

Which is in agreement with my first sentence;
"Most engine wear occurs during the first few minutes immediately after starting." e.g. cold starts.
and
So once your engine warms up, wear is normal - your mileage is proof of that.

The rest of the post just emphasizes what would happen if the engine oil never gets above 170°F. Engine oil runs 20-30° hotter than the coolant.

If the temp gauge (reading 130) is any indication of coolant temps then the oil temp is 130+30=160°F, not hot enough for oil to do it's job properly.
But, we know that's not the case because, if it were Chevyman would be wearing piston rings like a belly dancer wears bangles.

If this was an LT, I would expect a 50-60° differential under certain conditions, but it's not, or is it?

As you can see abnormal engine operating temperatures just give me the hee-bee, jee-bees, and I'm not one to say, "Oh well, who am I to argue with a temp gauge?" It's just one of those thing that would make me lose sleep.

gumby your are VERY incorrect on ALL of this.

a car with a thermostat that is stuck open (which can be classified as a bad thermostat) will make the car run cold. the job of the thermostat is to regulate temps by opening when the temp is too high and then closing when the temps cool down. it doesn't just open once at that point that the temps are high enough and stay there. even more so in winter weather.

as far as the v8 running cooler then 100-130* I know of one right now that has done that during the middle of winter when the temps are between 25-40* outside give or take 10* and almost always stayed at that temp range. this was with an aftermarket gauge stock radiator, stock belt driven fan with a semi broken shroud and no thermostat.

btw I called ripleys they said they can't put it in there as they have heard it before
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if it was due to to a faulty thermostat staying in the open position then having no thermostat is going to cause the same issue as it never holds the coolant in teh block to warm it up and instaed will just keep passing the heat out to the radiator

I haven't heard that one before and also aren't they seperated by a little bit? I don't believe they run the coolant to surround the radiator for the tranny fluid.

a thermostat controls what the low end the temp of the car runs at. not how high it will get but rather how cold it will get. a 165* thermostat can very well make the car run cooler if that is where the car wants to run. if it wants to run at 195* then your right the 165* thermo won't change that.