How Cold Is Too Cold?

[Ned Flanders]

This has muddled me and probably has a simple explaination.

 

The car (3.1 Regal) would usually run about the midway mark or above on the thermostat at operating speed. Lately, I've noticed that the thermostat is dropping below the midway mark when I'm running wide open on the highway. It'll go right back to normal if I have to come to stop or sit at idle.

 

It's warming up okay and the coolant's at the proper levels. I'm having it flushed out next week because it's a little sludgy.

 

Is this something I should worry about? I would just switch out the thermostat but, like I said, this is really only happening at highway speeds.

[z284pwr]

Umm, gnenerally people would take that as a good sign because the car is running cooler

 

Oh yeah, and generally while you are on the highway, pushing 55 MPH, your radiator is going to get a lot of air flow over it as compared to cruising around, obviously, so more air flow will cool better....

[Ned Flanders]

Yeah, I was just wondering because this is something new...and I've been driving the hell out of the poor thing. It's better than running hot!

[fastbird232]

Yeah, I'd want my car to be running pretty cold. Not TOO cold, as that wouldn't be very good, but on the chilly side anyhow.

[Ned Flanders]

That's what I'm going to do.

I didn't want to do it, but may as well.[br]Posted on: April 27, 2006, 03:28:23 PM_________________________________________________Just an update...too cold was too cold. I put in a thermostat, 2 new hoses and did a coolant flush. Everything's back to normal. Or as normal as this car can be. The last owner was a crack addict, I think. Lots of kooky work had been done on this thing.

 

1. Like the rearview mirror secured with West Virginia chrome (duct tape)

2. Some dash panels are popped up

3. Lovely retread tires (which I replaced ten minutes after I bought the car)

4. Found the ashtray in the spare tire well

5. Don't know what kind/weight of oil they had in it but it looked like chocolate syrup

6. Found the cigarette lighter taped to the air bag box (?)

7. Third brake light jammed so tight against the rear window the whole thing's gotta be busted to get it off.

 

 

[1990lumina]

My POS Lumina doesn't EVER warm up past the quarter mark on the temp. guage. It doesn't matter if it's -40 or +40w/ AC on, the damn thing never gets hot...pisses me off because in winter I have no heat. My thermostat is a new 190 and it still is like that, so who knows...

[Ned Flanders]

I don't know if this will help, but have you had the system completely flushed? I had a lot of crud in mine and the coolant was only a year old. I think my radiator's crusty.