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I have a 88 f150 with a 302. Its thermostats stuck open. My auto shop teacher said it’s got a flow of water and it’s reading 155 with a temp gun. Is it gonna damage anything to drive it around town? I’ll get the stuff to fix it soon hopefully. Is there a Moto craft thermostat for this thing available? I couldn’t find one last time. So I went with a Napa brand one. I’m not warrantying it because I don’t want to change the fluid every time it goes bad I want it to last.
I figured out to last time it’s like 60-70% antifreeze and 30-40% water so I need to change it anyway
It won't hurt anything short-term IMO. Over the long-term, not getting the engine up to temp causes moisture to build up inside the motor because it is not being burned off.
I’m thinking it’ll be about a month till I can get it done. I got about 1k on the truck since I did all this work so I think it’s been stuck this whole time.
Your mix should be 50%-50& coolant and DISTILLED WATER,not tap water. If you buy premix it is already mixed properly.
copied this for you.
With a normal top-mounted thermostat you need drain only part of the cooling system . Do not drain it while the engine is hot — you may be scalded. Wait for the engine to cool. Drain the coolant from the radiator tap, or from the bottom hose, until it is below the level of the thermostat housing. You can reuse the coolant you drained.
Thanks. I used distilled. I just counted 3 seconds water, 3 seconds antifreeze and figured that would be close enough. I will decide if I want to reuse it or if I want to flush again, I want to use another brand coolant but not sure yet.
You will need a new thermostat every two years or so (stuck open and no heat in the winter)
The engine will live longer if it gets to operating temp within a set time frame of about 4 minutes at 2500 rpm
You will get good at changing the thermostat
If the coolant is nice and green and passes a bead test reuse it with some added water
Use whatever H2O you want, there are new and conflicting theories as to the distilled water being Ion hungry (strips electrons from the metal in the cooling system)
Some prefer to use soft water
Tap water is not real good IMO, I use whatever my customer wants
Not certain where you live, but distilled water is a waste of money in my area. The water is good right out of the tap. If you are unsure, distilled water is a safe bet.
I've had two thermostats for my 95 5.8L. The factory one and the one I replace under maintenance. I replaced it when I replaced the coolant pump [as a maintenance job too]. Better to swap things out at a certain time/mileage than to do it on the side of the road. Especially when you are going on a cross country trip.
If the thermostat needs to be replaced every two years, there is something wrong with the parts you are installing. The cheapest parts are not usually the best.
In my area of Houston the Calcium is almost like White Rust. I avoid even drinking it when I can. Turns anything crusty while it settles in anb blocks passages.
Distilled water is my safest way I feel. Hope you guys don't have this stuff.
Why do you change a good working thermostat every 2 years
Even if it works though, it uses liquid wax. When that liquid wax gets hot it expands and pushes the thermostat open, and when it cools down the spring closes it. That liquid wax gets hard over time, and it becomes less efficient at its job, so it’s a preventative maintenance type of thing.
Sometimes it fails then, others it doesn’t. I’m sure the last one in my truck was 10+ years old. It was so rusty from the rusty coolant. Whoever owned that truck last didn’t do any coolant maintenance by the looks of it. So the thermostat is a hit and miss. Even motorcraft, but some are better than others.
This includes electronic thermostats, as they have that wax to. Only difference is they have a heating element for that wax, which the computer can use to heat the wax and open the thermostat so it can be proactive and open it early if your 75% throttle or more usually on a hill or something.
Also, on my 40 minute drive home it reached 195, I checked with the temp gun. Shouldn’t it reach operating temp at idle though? Even if it takes forever it should still at least climb slowly it sat at 155 I think it was for 5-10 minutes. It was 68 where I was when it was at idle.
Even if it works though, it uses liquid wax. When that liquid wax gets hot it expands and pushes the thermostat open, and when it cools down the spring closes it. That liquid wax gets hard over time, and it becomes less efficient at its job, so it’s a preventative maintenance type of thing.
Sometimes it fails then, others it doesn’t. I’m sure the last one in my truck was 10+ years old. It was so rusty from the rusty coolant. Whoever owned that truck last didn’t do any coolant maintenance by the looks of it. So the thermostat is a hit and miss. Even motorcraft, but some are better than others.
This includes electronic thermostats, as they have that wax to. Only difference is they have a heating element for that wax, which the computer can use to heat the wax and open the thermostat so it can be proactive and open it early if your 75% throttle or more usually on a hill or something.
Also, on my 40 minute drive home it reached 195, I checked with the temp gun. Shouldn’t it reach operating temp at idle though? Even if it takes forever it should still at least climb slowly it sat at 155 I think it was for 5-10 minutes. It was 68 where I was when it was at idle.
Op temp should be achieved by about 10 minutes or so of idle time. Before I edited I mentioned the fan clutch having wax which it does as does the thermostat.
Houston water is drinkable in a pinch, but I prefer to filter it through a big zero water. Phoenix has really hard water, taste is eh too. The 01 Mexpedition came from there and took me a long time to clean that cooling system.
If seriously neglected, flush till clear. Evaporust it. I had to on the C4 and 300SE this year, before that was one of my BMW, Screw, and Mexpedition. That stuff is awesome for cooling system repair.
Also consider an inline filter. That will pretty much assure a spotless system after a few thousand miles.
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