Ok so in reading all these articles on thermostats I decided to go from a 160 degree thermostat to a 180 degree.
Well my guage is a stock gauge and does not have actual temperature, it just has one of these C\ [_____] _H.
Well with the 160 it ran below half way closer to the C and know with the 180 it runs close to the edge of the bracket close to the H. It almost scares me to see the gauge that high.

Were does your guage operate and with what degree Stat..?

 

I can't say since I have a stock 100-220 guage. Mine stayed around the 115 for the longest time until I replaced the lifters. Now it likes to hang out around 140. I think my guage is going through a midlife crisis. Hence why my wife bought me a set of equus guages to swap out my whole cluster. Yet another project to do. You know she loves you when shes buying parts. God I love my wife.

 

WOW a wife that can buy car parts. Better watch out, you may get a bunch of guys trying to steal that one away...

115 do you even run a stat?
Lifter change added 25 degrees, you must of had to hammer them in. (kidding)
even 140 for Southern Cali is a cool running truck.
You guys get any of these 100 and teens we have been seeing in the valley?

 

JD, You have a wiring issue, changing the T-stat does not change the operating temp unless the older one was clogged up. A 160º stat opens at 160º and a 180º at 180º. If the truck was operating at 187º before it should be operating at 187º today.

John

 

John
It ran much cooler with the 160 stat, with the 180 it runs much closer to the hot side. Was just wondering where someones with a 180 runs at in conjuction with the stock Ford gauge.

With a properly operating system the stat will control temperature. When the radiator cools the anti freeze below the set point of your stat the stat will throttle back and allow the engine to run at that temperature. When the engine gets hotter the stat opens allowing the cooler liquid in the radiator to remove heat from the engine. The stat opens wider the hotter the fluid gets in the engine and closes the cooler the fluid gets from the set point.

If they did not control the temperature there would be no need for one.

 

Maybe someone else will chime in, but if a stat is scheduled only to open and close at a set temp, how can it effect the temp that is higher than the opening temp.

If I am wrong I appologise.

John

 

John, Brother.
JD is right.
The thermostat keeps the hot coolant in the engine, until it gets too hot.
The thermostat thinks too hot is whatever it is rated at.
The 180 thinks 180 is too hot, and lets the hot coolant out, and cooler coolant in to drop it down.
The 210 thinks 210 is too hot, and opens to let the hot coolant out and the cool coolant in.
So, the engine doesn't get much above 180, or 210.
Under normal conditions, the engine will run in a range about 10 degrees above and 10 degrees below what the thermostat is rated at.

 

180 degree thermostat and the stock non-numbered gage like you have on a 65 F250 with a 390 here. Driving the other day in ~110 degree weather it was just a little on the cool side of the middle of the gage. When it was cooler out it would only read about 1/4 up from cool at the most.

 

Thanks AZ
That is what I was looking for. It seems like I may be in need of a new temperature guage.

Does anyone make a guage that looks factory and fits in a custom cab instrument panel?

Maye I will hang a mechanical under the dash or maybe change the sensor first.

Thanks guys.

 

I've been on the look out for a replacement 'numbered' temp gage to fit the CC cluster also (I like having actual numbers) but the problem is the gage actually sits behind an aluminum black 'face plate' that has slots where you can see thru the face to the gage's sweep. The gage itself appears to be a standard 2" size gage but I am not sure an aftermarket one would really look right since it would have to sit behind that black face plate which is behind the plastic part that has the speedo numbers, the 'fuel' and 'temp' lettering and the plastic 'chrome' bezel rings. Perhaps if you took the chrome bezel and glass off an aftermarket model it might work but once you get that cluster apart you will see the difficulty.

I considered just cutting a hole for an aftermarket gage to sit in the black panel but can't bring myself to make such a permanent change and I dont think the 'face plate' is strong enough to hold it so I think I have decided on just getting an additional one to mount below the dash somewhere. Not to mention you would still have the stock temp letters in the plastic part. Mounting it in the plastic i dont think would look right either cause you would likely see the side of the gage as it would sit 'above' the black 'face plate.'

I did replace the oil pressure and ahm meter with a 2" mechanical OP gage and volt meter from AutoMeter, black face, white letters and orange sweep that looks very very similar to the stock gages and fit in the original holes with no modification. The part numbers i used are 2592 (volt) and 2522 (OP) and they have just about every gage you can think of measuring something with, available in the same design.

 

I was just checking prices on sensors and they are cheap and available so I am going to try that first. I hope it works. I was thinking what you just posted that it would be very difficult to replace.

I have a extra, round style dash from a earlier truck maybe I will play with a custom dash.

Thanks again guys

 

As for the Temp gauge on a Custom Cab with the round style speedo, to purchase a remanufactured or new (depending on who you ask) will run you about $90.00 to $95.00 plus shipping. In an earlier post I had said whenever I go shopping at a pick-a-part I always grab the gauges.
At a "junk yard" a round speedo cluster with all gauges cost $75.00 or so,
If they feel for you, you might get it cheaper.
Remember these gauges are expensive, but your getting gauranteed working gauges, when you buy from known Vendors.
So it's best to hit swap meets, junk yards or wherever you buy parts from and stock up. (one out of three usually works)
After several attempts at gauges I finally have a perfect round speedo gauge cluster. It only cost me $1,586,397.89
I'll be D@%^# if I'll pay $90-95.00 for gauges.
Robert

 

JD, warm up your engine with the radiator cap removed. Check the temperature of the coolant with a candy thermometer or a meat thermometer. If you have a 180* thermostat, under no load, the temperature should stabilize right around 180*. (It may run hotter under load.) Once you get a stable temperature on the thermometer, note where your dash gauge is reading, and that gives you a baseline reading so you know how hot it really is. And for the record, 200-210* is within the normal range. Even if the gauge is not accurate it doesn't matter as long as you know what the reading means.

 

gangstakr, I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that the custom cab dash cluster was the sweep speedo with 4 gages and not the round one.

Bdox has a good idea there with checking actual temps with a thermometer, seems like you could rig up a piece of cardboard and push a meat thermo thru it (or a piece of sheetmetal with a hole) so it sits on the rad without falling in, then you may be able to get multiple readings as the temp gage and water temp rise.

 

I have the sweep style in my truck as you can see in my avatar but my brother gave me a complete round cluster setup and that is what I was refering to to modify. I just can't bring myself to hack my original sweep gauges.

I like the checking temp idea also, I will give that a try. I have a Fluke digital temp meter with several differant probes including a nice long probe that I can probably fish over to the return to the radiator to get as close a reading as possible.

Thanks for the ideas..

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