180˚ Thermostat


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By Nat Santamaria - 13 Years Ago
Hey guys. I just installed a new Mr. Gasket 180˚ Hi-Flow thermostat. I now find that the car takes a good half hour to get it up to the operating temperature and the car runs at the same temperature as it did with the 170˚. Does this sound correct. I thought the car would reach operating temperature much quicker with the 180˚ I checked it before I installed it. It is working correctly. I am just concerned the car runs too cool for a long period of time.

I have temporarily by-passed my Heater Valve until my new one comes in. Would this have any affect?



57 Tbird - 312
By charliemccraney - 13 Years Ago
Since you did check it, I guarantee it's 180 or higher. The gauge you're using may not be indicating an accurate reading but you should notice a difference. However, the thermostat is the minimum temperature. It could for some reason be running at the exact same temperature as before if it happened to be above 180.



I wouldn't expect the thermostat to have an effect on the time it takes to warm up. It's still the same volume of coolant under the same conditions.

Bypassing the heater valve should make it shorter, if anything.
By Riz - 13 Years Ago
I have noticed that on mine especially going from small valve heads to G's-- in a seasonal time especially in the spring. I have always wondered if it had anything to do with the higher volatility winter fuels they use and the warmer temps, the fuel vaporizes at a lower temp, I suppose it coud have an increased cooling effect on the air charge and lower temps for a more prolonged time.



I also used an ir thermometer and took readings on various places. The engine, manifold, heads, water neck, block exhaust, etc. It always seemed that those temps stayed pretty constant after about 10 min warm up even though the temp gage took 30 min to get up to temp.
By Frankenstein57 - 13 Years Ago
I put on a fan shroud and added gauges, drove around this last weekend 70-80's Never went past 170. I believe I have a 180 stat. Maybe its the Chinese gauge, I'll play with the digital inferred and see. Mark
By GREENBIRD56 - 13 Years Ago
When it comes to finding out where the heat is - and where it isn't - you can't beat an infrared "gun" style of thermometer. I used to borrow one from work but finally invested in a Craftsman unit from Sears (about $80). With this sort of instrument you should be able to "see" the temp rise at the thermostat outlet when it opens. I have the Mr Gasket 180° - modified with three 3/16 holes as a bypass - but you can clearly tell when it opens.

The balance between the radiator size, water flow, fan air flow and engine water heating on my outfit is basically a 100°-105°F rise over ambient. So when the outdoor temperature is below 80°F, the thermostat "regulates" its water opening to hold temp in the motor - and just barely opens enough to send a bit toward the radiator and ingest a slug of cold water from the inlet hose. I have an orfice installed in the bypass hose below the thermostat (3/16 opening) and it changes the way mine behaves compared to one that is a wide open 5/8 hose like a stocker. That open bypass may be a necessity when you live somewhere besides southern Arizona - otherwise, warm-up may be extended.

When I got the car - and took all of the front-end equipment off the engine for a clean up, painting and new gaskets - I found that the waterpump and thermostat housing were so heavily limed up that the bypass hose wasn't exactly passing a lot of water to start with.

By DANIEL TINDER - 13 Years Ago
[b]GREENBIRD56 (3/24/2012)

When I got the car - and took all of the front-end equipment off the engine for a clean up, painting and new gaskets - I found that the waterpump and thermostat housing were so heavily limed up that the bypass hose wasn't exactly passing a lot of water to start with.




Sounds like the previous owners were not big on spending money for distilled water.



Nat,



Did you test the old 170 thermostat after you pulled it? If it was sluggish/sticky, that might explain the faster warm-up? Not many '57 Birds will likely run lower than 180 in mild weather.
By Hoosier Hurricane - 13 Years Ago
Nat:

You said you bypassed your heater valve.  If you installed a nipple in the manifold and re-connected the heater hose, you are now using the heater core as a radiator, and that along with the bypass hose makes for two 5/8" ID hoses bypassing the thermostat.  That will prolong warmup, as the closed thermostat doesn't really shut off the water flow.