i get things on ebay within like 2 days couse they know its a part you need ,a few times i waited ,though ,but it seems the t stat would not be any different then any other car ,as it has nothing to do with smog control ,

 

CamBigCat,
You need to think this whole 25 year old Camaro thing through. At this point you have only replaced small items, mostly gaskets. All the hard metal parts are still original. I like owning older cars but I can fix anything and I tend to spot potential issues before they become a problem I also tend to keep a spare vehicle just in case. I put 100,000 miles on my 1996 v6 and I only invested $2500 in the entire project. IF I would have paid labor on that project that would have been closer to $11,000. Also I handpicked a very well maintained car to start with.

You need to do one of two things, Find a much newer car that has been maintained and keep the maintenance up on it, or learn to work on them. Learning to work on cars can be real tuff without a support structure (AKA Family or Friends that already do it.)

Keeping a car this old because “I already put a lot of money in it” is just bad idea money wise. I have seen it so many times at the dealer. I would see these cars come in and they would get a couple oil leaks fixed and maybe a coolant leak and by the end of 6 months the total cost is twice what I would have spent on a rebuild. Then another 6 months down the road the car spins a bearing. Now the owners is faced with a $3500 repair after just doing $2500 earlier in the year. All in a car worth about $1500. Keep in mind failures will increase as the car ages unless the car goes through some type of restoration.

Also there is a huge risk in having more money in a daily driver then its worth. If you get hit, totally not your fault, the insurance company is only liable for the value of the car. This has been tested in the courts many time. The money you spend to keep your car in good running order does not add valve to the car because the value assumes a good running car. You can literally have $2500 worth of work done at a dealer and wreck it pulling out of the dealer and if the book value on the car is $1800 you are getting $1800.

My daughter just graduated collage and plans on secondary school. She traded in her 2003 on a 2011 Impala with 65K on the clock with a little money to put down her payments are $105 a month. No reason with proper maintenance that car should last her 5 years 100,000 miles without a major repair. Compared to bills you have seen $1260 per year seems cheap. Estate auctions for the win

 

Thanks 406 and Gorn

 

i know what you meen gorn,the old saying is when a car nickle an dimes us ,i got a limit to how much i will put in a car ,before its time to sell it ,or take a loss i try not to take a loss an have not since i was young,like my 3800,i have about $700.. over the cost of the car in it an a now just selling it ,for the cost i paid for it ,i got 10k miles an 2 years ,though with 4 cars ,thats another reason i am selling otherwise i would keep it ,but yes if i get the $2200.00 out of its is a good car,cold AC 97k miles,one thing i found about the car is it had 8 owners ,its at 3k going down 2500 best offer ,i never owned a car with that many owners ,yes it needs tlc they all do.but still is a good car,i also undertsand when people hang onto what they have ,sometimes there stuck ,between haveing it so long they get a sentimental value, to people i am sure thats the case BIG cat ,my buddie who helps me mechanic my cars ,has a 95 mini van thats been nickle an dimeing him ,so hes stuck with it at the point where he cant afford another car ,i been trying to get him in my 05 sable with 65k ,short of giveing it to him for labor would be it ,as his income is limited though he has a bad habbit of helping 23 year old kids ,he has 4 girls all over age that should takeing care of them self ,i keep telling him stop giveing your money away i been there too,stopped that one though,last year he could have moved closer to town an bought a car

 

the temp gauge inside goes up to 260 for a 1993 v-6; 3.4 base; so? does that mean for sure I should get the 195 degree t-stat.?

I'll order this part myself and give it to a mechanic to install.

I never saw a disparate wide range in prices for 1 friggin piece of auto part (a t-stat), and also different qualities like one t-stat is 160 degrees and another 195 degrees. thanx. this should be my last question.

 

my car after the following "coolant related repairs" were fixed is still uncomfy high near the red zone but not as bad as it used to be:

1) coolant temp sensor replaced $185 at a shop
2) plastic cracked radiator cap replaced with a metal one $10 at a shop
3) coolant leak near timing chain cover replaced $1080 at a shop
4) upper and lower cracked radiator hoses replaced $160 at a shop

and now this pesky problem....

a coolant t-stat needs to be replaced $100 on average at a shop, my once friendly and trustworthy repair shop (sadly not so anymore) will charge me $149

Do you all see how much has been invested in just the Coolant aspect of a 93 v6 3.4 base?

this is ridiculous....

so what would keep this still very hot and warm car that goes a little past 3/4 or 240 out of the 260 max cooler?

would a new T-stat at 195 degrees help? $8 at O'reillys auto parts

a t-stat at 160 degrees is more expensive for some reason at O'reilly's

should i buy the 195 deg. T-stat only 8 bucks at o'reillys and no need to wait for the item via mail nor pay shipping charges?

and would this really keep my car way much cooler and probably at a little past the mid temp gauge mark during 80 to 90 degree surface street driving weather?

thanks again

i just want to slay this engine coolant problem which is lasting too long.

 

i believe it's been mentioned before, but it is imperative when you repair/replace items related to coolant system and or fix overheating problems, the air gets bled out of the system right away and correctly.[/B][/B] This is critical. sometimes it has to be done more than once. everything works together: proper coolant/levels, hose free of holes, sealed gaskets, sensors, fans etc. i hope you're near the end of this process and like someone else said, there is cost in maintaining vehicles as you consider risk/reward value: real or sentimental reliable daily driver vs pleasure/hobby cost factors on n on etc....take care

 

The point I am trying to make is you have only touched about 10% of the cooling system. The coolant system is the part of the car that ages the worst. Yours is showing signs that it was not maintained. You can expect more problems in the future. Think of it as a rotting deck in your back yard. You replaced 4 boards that broke. Thinking the rest of the deck is good now is just wishful thinking. Any time the motor overheats is cause excessive wear. Head gaskets and pistons/rings are the most likely spot for damage. It is pretty rare to just have an engine wear out. Normally a worn engine will get stresses and fail. 50% of the time that stress is an over heating.

Honestly what thermostat you use is not important. What is important is that you NEVER drive a car if the Thermostat is not opening. I recommend the AC delco replacement or anything made by Stat with the factory specs (195 deg). The Thermostat is an on/off switch for the coolant system. In the summer I doubt it ever turns off. As long as it opens at or near the 195 deg point it is working. It will have no effect on how hot your car is getting. That is a function of a lot of other factors. If you want to buy the $2 thermostat fine just boil some water and test it to make sure it opens. (see youtube)

The 160 thermostat is more expensive due to volume. They make millions and millions of stock thermostats. A 160 deg Thermostat is not stock, it is for performance application. To use it correctly you would need to have you car dyno tuned for lower temps and the fan temps adjusted lower. Putting one in a stock car will just make it take longer to warm up in the winter.

 

your temp guage is probley wrong with a hand held guage ,the temps should be 195 to 200. fans would come on an cool to like 150 160 ,then your fan shut off yes mabey a bit hotter inside the engine like 220 they can get ,most guages are off by now ,but you may notice with a new t stat the guage may not go up so high too,that why its 195 you want,yes your anti freeze needs to be changed every few years with the older car ? what does it look like ,i am guessing they used dexcool orange in it ,like gorn said hoses too, clean anti freeze is important ,my 99 is so clean i was lucky after 8 owners wich is unheard of ,come to find thats why i got a good deal on it ,with my car rust was an issue after that many owners,i am lucky there was some maintenence done to it ,if your coolant looks dark brown or worse that could be bad to if it green looking dark that too can be ,when you car cools down you can check it,should be nice orange color or green not mucky at all

 

I'm going to buy the 195 degree t-stat. Thanks, Gorn and also everyone else who recently replied.

Per my trusty auto shop mechanic, My t-stat is already in the Open position or my car would overheat. By "overheat," I am pretty sure he means at the least worrisome being very very near the red zone in the inside cabin temp gauge at the worst worrisome having smoke come out of it.

It's interesting what my freelance mechanic said below, he doesn't work at an auto shop but has lots of experience:

....."It's means the thermostat opens up at 160 degree. And the car is cooler faster. Do they make a fell safe thermostat for your car. The fell safe one stay open If the thermostat were ever to break. But they don't make it for all car tho."

by fell safe I think he means "fail safe" which is like a derivation of idiot-proof or a safety backup mechanism.