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Bronco II Ford Bronco II

engine temp gauge

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Old Jun 3, 2004 | 12:57 PM
  #1  
CherryColaholic's Avatar
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engine temp gauge

sorry, im sure you guys are getting sick of me asking all these crazy questions.. but quit yer whining. j/k anyway heres the thing. Back when my bronx ran good the temp would sit right on the R in normal. Then i put in a new water pump and it would sit on the M instead. still no big deal. Well then it starting going all over the place cuz my computer was bad. But it went really high so as a precaution i filled up the coolant recovery tank. That didnt do anything. i was still worried about cracking heads so i took the thermostat out all together. Now the needle will go just past the first line on the scale and then after a while it settles right on the line. Am i running too cool??? It seems to have more power than it did before and it runs great. It starts in the first rotation of the crank. Its amazing how quick it starts now.. less than half a second. So what im saying is... it seems to be running better than ever, do i need to worry about it running a little too cool or anything?
 
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 01:02 AM
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is it actually possible top run "too" cool????
i always thought the cooler the better....
 
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 01:52 AM
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cool is GOOD
 
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 02:23 AM
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Thanx guys.. thats good to hear. I just thought that maybe it didnt warm up all the way so my emissions would suck or just something along the lines of not warming up all the way. Anyway im fine with it then.
 
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 04:24 AM
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omg you can take out the thermostat?????

more info, now, please.
 
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 07:34 AM
  #6  
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GrayRanger4x4
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From: Perry,Ga.
You need to run the thermostat {at lest a 185 deg better a 195} for the emc to manage YOUR ENGIN PROPERLY.If you are haveing cooling problems get them fixed dont run a band-aid on it for long.To help with the cooling get the raditor for a Gen1 Exploere with an auto trans{if you dont need the tranny cooler leavd it pluged},Get a new fan clutch,or a elec fan {better}so you know its pulling the air through the new radator.And run a 195 thermostat.
 
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 08:03 AM
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I thought the lower temp the better, like 180 was supposed to be prevent overheating really well
 
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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 09:39 AM
  #8  
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In the old days, yes, you wanted to run cooler engines. Modern engines are designed to run hotter, and the computerized engine management systems expect that. For example, I had a bad thermostat in my Explorer that opened ~175-180 F (Verified with a voltmeter across the ECT). Replaced it with a functional 195 F thermostat, and my gas mileage jumped 2-3 mpg. Essentially, the computer was always in "warm-up" mode which is less fuel efficient than the standard mode.
 
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Old Jun 5, 2004 | 07:06 PM
  #9  
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Well heres an update. I still left the thermostat out for now. The gauge still never gets past the n on normal but it does stay up there. my cooling problems were just that the thermostat wasnt opening all the way and it was getting way too hot. Like i said before it seems to have more power and be running better than ever. Ive also put another 160 miles on it and the gas mileage is right where it used to be. (if you remember im the one that had the extra gas mileage out of nowhere.. thats the mileage im still getting) Now some of you guys said it NEEDS to be around 185-190 to run properly. If you ask me it is running properly. Problem is i know little about engines so i dont really know. judging from what ive said should i suck it up and put in a thermostat again, or should i just leave it the way it is until the weather gets cold and then put in the thermostat? Or should i just leave it all together and let it just take forever to warm up in the winter?
 
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