Quirky thermostats

[Jason Mawhinney]

Operating temp to me means above the 3 hash marks that the 90's instrument
cluster has at the absolute coldest end (left side) of the temperature
gauge.  When the car sits still for an extended period of time, it will
warm up to roughly midway on the gauge and the cooling fan will turn
on.  When it is below ~ 30 degrees F, the temperature will usually stay at
the "cold" hash marks to the left end of the gauge.  I will have to check
into what the temperature rating of the thermostats are but I would expect
any of them to keep the gauge somewhere off of the leftmost hash marks.
Thanks,
Jason

At 09:11 PM 2/16/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>--
>[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>Jason, are you sure you're using 88 degree units and not 80C units?
>
>First think I'd think of.  What do you mean by "operating temp."?
>
>Javad
>
>In a message dated 2/16/2003 4:01:02 PM Pacific Standard Time,
>jmawhinney at nc.rr.com writes:
>
> > >Hi everybody!
> > >Just wondering if anyone else has had any experience with new thermostats
> > >that don't allow the engine to get to operating temperature in the 5 cyl
> > >cars.  A few years ago before I installed the 20v in the 4k, I installed a
> > >new thermostat in the original engine because it was stuck open.  The new
> > >one I installed acted exactly like the one it replaced.  I figured I did
> > >something wrong in installation so I took the car to my mechanic and he
> > >replaced the Stant unit I installed with a german one.  It seemed to work.
> > >Now that the 20v is installed, I'm having the same problem that I had with
> > >the 1st engine where it wouldn't come up to operating temperature when
> > >it's cold out.  I again installed a Stant and there was no change.  Again,
> > >I went to my mechanic and he said the Stant thermostats didn't generally
> > >work well in the 5 cylinders and he installed a unit he got from the Audi
> > >dealer (presumably an OE german unit).  Again, I have no change!  Is there
> > >a trick to installing these things?
> > >Has anyone else had this much trouble with thermostats?
> > >Puzzled,
> > >Jason Mawhinney
> > >'85 4kq 20v
> > >'86 coupe GT (thermostat works!)
> > >'87 5ktq (I'll find out soon if the thermostat works)
> > >'70 MGB (thermostat always has worked perfectly.  The English did
> > >something right!)