mech temp gauge installed, 210 is normal right?

[Greg5OH]

Finally got my stewart warner mechanical temp gauge in. truck warmed up to 210 in about 10 mins or so in town driving and hovered there, 208-212 ish. i guess its got a 210 thermostat (thats stock im assuming)? What is a safe temp it can get to assuming towing heavey? (egt gauge being installed soon).
I installed the probe where the stock over temp probe is (driver side of the head, near the front of the engine)

edit: i see stock international thermostat is a 203?

 

[redneckaggie]

I believe the stock thermostat is around 190, mine never climbs above about 200 during normal driving seen 210-220 once when towing heavy and hard

 

[gatorman21218]

Yep thats where mine is and I also use stewart warner. Mine stays right around there. I would start to get worried at about 230.

 

[Greg5OH]

Yep thats where mine is and I also use stewart warner. Mine stays right around there. I would start to get worried at about 230.

Gator, where is your probe located and what is your average temp?

 

[gatorman21218]

Sorry I wasnt clear before. My probe is in the factory overheat and I average 210

 

[Devon Harley]

I set around 190 most of the time. however ive jumped to 200 for some reason lately havent figured our why yet.

 

[Greg5OH]

Thanks gatorman.
Devon, where is your probe located?
I see your in san diego, dont know what the climate is like but here in the GTA humidity has been around 90% last week, i notice my stang runs 5-8 degrees hotter in this weather. When its a dry day it stays at 182 all day, humid-190 or so

 

[gandalf]

I took my truck out for a run a day or so ago. I did a 20 mile loop, almost all level freeway. Of course I had that big 11 foot cabover camper, heavy and as aerodynamic as a brick. Outside temp was about 85°F. My gauges told me that the coolant stayed right at 190°, and the transmission fluid at 140°. As I said, that was all level, and I never took it over 65MPH.

I'm reading the coolant temp at the water pump, and the transmission temp at the test port near the linkage.

 

[Greg5OH]

Again, where is your probe mounted?

 

[whiteboyslo]

I have an Autometer digital gauge with the probe in the overheat port. Since the day I installed it, I hover right around 205 and don't really make it back under 200 unless its a long downhill section, and even then we're only talking 199 or so. Used to figure it was normal, but I've seen as high as low 230s on long grades with relatively light loads (4 sport bikes and gear), so I'm pretty sure something isn't right. The truck has a Champion aluminum rad that I installed before the gauge was in, so that seems ok. Going to replace the thermostat if I ever get a day with nothing to do. For now, when I do tow, I run the AC. Ironically, it makes the truck run cooler because, for some reason, it makes the fan clutch kick in sooner and more often.

Mike

 

[Devon Harley]

The over heat port in drivers head. It's about 90-95 degrees not much humidity though. I changed my fan clutch cause it was at 210 normal driving went back down an bounced up. I believe if I had the right coolant I would be 190. Good cooling system is extremely important if you tow I find that the cooling system is the weakest part when towing t least for me my powers fine it just climbs up in temp. It did that last fall at my pismo meat I saw 225 scared the hell outta me.

 

[icanfixall]

The temp at the head location is about 7 degrees higher than what the thermostat sees. Our factory thermostats open at 192 degrees and are fulling open at 212 degrees. If you have no idea what thermostat you have in your engine I sure would install only the factory part. Nothing else really can pass enough coolant to keep these engines cool. Yes, there are plenty of after market thermostats that fit but would cool properly. Even china has a factory looking thermostat but they make them out of cheap ass material and break. We had a member here with some heating up issues so he rermoved what he thought was a factory thermostat. Two of the metal top braces were broken. Printed in big letters was... CHINA on the side of it. Damn unscrupulous country working us hard these days...
Running with the sender in the water pump is not going to tell you what the coolant temp is at the thermostat Ken. What I did was installed my isspro gauge sender in the factory location next to the injection pump gear cover. I still run the factory over temp sender in the front of the drivers side head. I installed the factory dash gauge sender in the water pump so my dash gauge works but it sees the cooled water going thru the water pump after the radiater. With my Banks trubo and the cdr fitting I had yo midify the sender and use a sopecail shoulderless pipe thread bushing to make it fit in the tight area. The shoulderless pipe fitting was a robershaw fitting used in a heater gas control for a forced air heater for a home. It was a lucky find to say the least. Those fittings have no hex to install or remove so you really have to want to use one knowing they probably will never come out or off the sender. They just have inside and outside threads and nothing for a pipe wrench to grab ahold of to install or remove.

 

[Hyde]

I wonder if my thermostat is missing/stuck open. I see a max of 160 summertime running hard. Towing hard ive seen 220. My old 6.9 would run 200-210 all the time

 

[Kevin 007]

The temp at the head location is about 7 degrees higher than what the thermostat sees. Our factory thermostats open at 192 degrees and are fulling open at 212 degrees. If you have no idea what thermostat you have in your engine I sure would install only the factory part. Nothing else really can pass enough coolant to keep these engines cool. Yes, there are plenty of after market thermostats that fit but would cool properly. Even china has a factory looking thermostat but they make them out of cheap ass material and break. We had a member here with some heating up issues so he rermoved what he thought was a factory thermostat. Two of the metal top braces were broken. Printed in big letters was... CHINA on the side of it. Damn unscrupulous country working us hard these days...
Running with the sender in the water pump is not going to tell you what the coolant temp is at the thermostat Ken. What I did was installed my isspro gauge sender in the factory location next to the injection pump gear cover. I still run the factory over temp sender in the front of the drivers side head. I installed the factory dash gauge sender in the water pump so my dash gauge works but it sees the cooled water going thru the water pump after the radiater. With my Banks trubo and the cdr fitting I had yo midify the sender and use a sopecail shoulderless pipe thread bushing to make it fit in the tight area. The shoulderless pipe fitting was a robershaw fitting used in a heater gas control for a forced air heater for a home. It was a lucky find to say the least. Those fittings have no hex to install or remove so you really have to want to use one knowing they probably will never come out or off the sender. They just have inside and outside threads and nothing for a pipe wrench to grab ahold of to install or remove.

Great info, yet again. Didn't know about the temp difference between the head and the T-stat.


And, I only ever see 210 if im towing and Im pulling a hill of some sort. Im always around 190. Thats with the temp sensor in the overheat port and a Motorcraft 192 T-stat. So Greg, I would make certain you have a "Motorcraft" t-stat in place and go from there. If I missed that in a previous post, I appologize. Im in a hurry....

 

[swervyjoe]

My flatbed is between 200-210. Isspro electric gauge. Sender is in the drivers head closest port to the firewall.