Alright guys,

Ive been reading up on the forums and some people say
that a 160* thermostat is a great way to go to get my 1989
T/A cool. However, I Installed one no more than two days ago.
I live in AZ, a hot part of the US, DO I have to run a
higher temp thermostat?

I also toggle switched my fans so both of the
duals spin at starting temp.

It takes 45-50mins (220*) for the car to get hot with the
fans on then shell keep going and I have
nothen to stop it!!!

Is it the Thermostat??
I cant think of anything else.

The engine only has 64K and no other troubles
Of heating up .. even in the desert!

 

Gonna need some more info to help, most likely.
Is this happening while driving, or just sitting at idle?
Have you checked your timing?
Squeeze the lower hose while engine running (with glove on), and see if it collapses.
Have you flushed the cooling system lately?
Test pressure on radiator cap.
Front air dam installed and in good shape?
How old is the water pump and.or radiator?
If you have a thermal gun, look to see if there are hot spots in the rad, showing possible flow restrictions.
The lower temp thermostat should be fine where you live. If you were up north where it is colder, then your heat may not work as well until the engine is hotter, but not were you're at

 

Thanks for the reply.

The car heats up while crusin'
the air dam is intact, water pump is new
A brand new Modine aluminum rad.
It might be air, ill check tonight while crusin'

The rad cap is the right pressure.


I think with 87 Trans AMs and up, Pontiacs tend to act
up when having a diffrent T-Stat.
I own a 87 4BBL 5.0 liter and a 89 5.7L TPI
and both do the same dam thing .. never going to 260*
but rather 245-255*

I think its the ECU< however, I just put a HYpertech stage
II in there and ill run her with a 160* with the ECU
adjustments that the hypertech did.

while Cooling is the Topic; ill ask this..

How can I get my car to have a normal operating temp
of 170-185 degrees ....

220 is way too hot to be racing BMWs and crap out
here in AZ if ya know whatta mean ... :rockon:

 

A temp of 220 is not too hot even for AZ. Your ecm is having trouble reading the 160 stat cuz it's set for a 195. With the new chip you can probably set it to open for a 160.

 

Yup, i think the tpi is gonna need that changed in the chip.
Is your 87 4bbl also a dual fan setup?
Mine is just a TBI with single fan, but with a 180 stat, new stock water pump, and constant 'on' fan, it never reaches above 180, unless I am running my as yet, undercharged AC. BTW, I am still using the stock rad.

 

The 87 T/A a single fan ..
but it still does the same thing my TPI <A TITLE="Click for more information about car" STYLE="text-decoration: none; border-bottom: medium solid green;" HREF="http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977|1||||cars|AA1VDw">car</A> does..

It wasnt untill I put a 195* T-stat then the 87 started to
behave.


As for my Operating temp of the 89 car .. 220 seems like
Im doing damage to the block when im crusin' hardcore out
here in AZ .

If it wasnt for my dual fans and that air dam on the bottom,
my car with low miles would overheat in 10mins ...
I think its not the engine thats runs hot ..but how its
programmed like PicardZ28 said..

I guess I need to go over to the DIY PROM boards and see what
everyone has to say...

Thanks fellas:hail: