My friend has a GTO w/ an electric fan, alum. heads, alum. water pump, im not sure about the rad. or thermo but he says it never gets above 150. I was just wondering if that was bad? I'd heard that cool motors wear out quickly, is there any truth to that? Thanks!

too cold is bad for the tpi thirdgens unless you change the chip..

i wouldnt drive my car that cold!! thats for sure... the oil pressure would most likely be high all the time, no heater, bad emissions..

hmm, never knew that it would ruin the motor...

once i replaced all my hoses, radiator, stat.. mine never got over 160 cuz of the 160 degree stat.

-fly

I see in a magazine I have that operating temps below 160 lead to incomplete combustion,raw fuel washing down the cylinder walls,oil contamination , and increased piston and ring wear.looks like too cold is no good

The engine is designed to run at a certain temperature. At that point all the clearances ar correct. Too hot and the pistons swell into the bores, too cold and they will slap and blow by more easily. The oil wont boil off the condensed gasoline and water, the bearings will be slack.

However a low temperature reading might mean the sensor is bad, or worse it might not be imersed in coolant if the system is not fully primed.

I had an engine years ago, where the temperture guage dropped somewhat, and that was followed shortly by a total seize up, because there was no coolant left at all. It didn't even go up in temperature before going down.

My 87 IROC never gets above 150*, winter or summer, except if I sit somewhere for a while. The heat is also never warm, it's like it's just outside air. I am going to check the thermostat over the break to see if it is stuck open.

I was also reading in another post about someone else whose heat isn't warm. They said to check some air divertor valve or something. Where would that be exactly?

Cold engines should not even be used at full power because of the damage that can occur until they are up to operating temperature.

What is normal operating temperature for a 5.7L? Mine has never ran at more than 150*, since I bought it in January. My RS ran at 220*, but I thought since the IROC had an oil cooler, that it might run a little cooler, but not 70* cooler.

Around 200 F

GM, if it's not a computer managed engine it's probably not an issue. If its reaching 150 the oil is up to temp well enough so that's not an issue either. The 195 stat in modern electronically managed engines is critical for proper operation of emission components and for fuel economy and I never recommend changing stats or modifing cooling fan operation. Keep in mind that if he's reading 150 he is probably getting a low temp reading anyway. I have not seen too many engines run at that temp no matter what was changed. Maybe he has no stat at all, that would make sense if it's running that cool. Otherwise if he stays around that temp he has nothing to worry about.