k i just put a new 160 degree thermostat in my 3.4 today and it worked great for bout 5 mins and now the engine temp runs at bout 210 pretty constantly. i ran it for bout 20 mins and the temp stays rite round 200. is this normal for a new thermostat or do i have some kind of issues?

 

Sounds a little warm. Could the rad possibly be clogged? Does the 3.4 have the bleeder screw? I have not worked on any 3.4's, just the 3.8's and they are different. Is the radiator topped off with the engine cold and running?

 

The thermostat allows the coolant to start circulating at 160 degrees, but the air going through the radiator is what really removes the heat. If the car is not moving, it depends on the fans to move air through the radiator. The fans are programmed to come on at around 220 degrees; so the coolant temp will continue to rise till the fans come on or the car moves at highway speed. All that happens now, is that you are left with an engine that takes longer than normal to get to working temperature. There is little power to be gained by running coolant at a lower temp than the factory designed, but there is a power gain by feeding the engine cool, and therefore denser air from outside the engine compartment such as when using a real cold air intake.

 

what pete said. ^^^

 

k well when im driving it wrks pretty good runs at bout 185 pretty consistantly so that makes sense bout the fans and all...and basically what u guys are sayin is that i wasted my time puttin a 160 degree in right? if thats the case then damn...lol at least i know how to change it if it goes bad i guess...

 

Pete beat me to it and no you didn't waste time. You probably didn't bleed it out right either if I was to guess. If you want it to remain at 160-180 at all times, get/make a manual fan switch.

 

Good to hear i didnt totally waste my saturday and what you mean by bleedin it out?

 

he's talking about expelling all the air from the system. air doesn't transfer heat as well as water, and can impede some cooling

 

how would i bleed it out better? i flushed everything for bout 20 mins and then added all my coolant so how would i bleed the air out?

 

Actually, you did waste your time and money. The 160 stat opens when the coolant inside the engine gets to 160-ish degrees, and it closes when incoming coolant from the radiator that's below 160 degrees hits it. In the hot heat of the summer (weather is cool now) and with a normal operating cooling fan, the engine temp will eventually climb to the point to where the fan is set to turn on. Meanwhile, since the coolant temp is way above 160, your stat is open constantly. Actually, a 180 and even 192 stat could still be open once the engine temp gets into the 200's. But where the 160 stat is really going to hurt you is in cold weather. Your interior heat, what little there will be, is going to suck.