Today when driving it in the nice 90 degree heat for an hour, I noticed that my temperature slowly crept up until it was steady between 200 and 210. I believe that's about 10 to 20 degrees higher than it normally runs, but what I don't know is what temperature would be called normal on a 72 (as a search indicated that various years operate slightly different). Thanks!

 

190 - 210 is normal. You're okay.

 

You dont mention whether you just got the car and are unsure or whether you have it for awhile and all of a sudden it's running hotter than normal in 90 degree temperatures?

 

Do you know what thermostat you have in the car? The 'normal' operating temp of any engine is a bit higher than the temperature rating of the thermostat you are using. If you are using a 195*F stat, 210*F would be a normal temp for your engine.

Now, having said that, you should also know that EVERY engine & cooling system combination will have a 'normal' operating temperature which can not be made to run LOWER, by installing a different thermostat. If you just remove the thermostat and allow the engine to reach a stable operating temp....THAT will be the minimum temp that the engine can run. You can install a higher temp thermostat and get the engine to run hotter, but you cannot get it to run any cooler with a different stat.

 

Don't fall into the trap of spending more time staring at the temp gauge than the road or thinking you need to re-engineer the car to do something different.

 

Yes. Absolutely. If the radiator shroud, seals, and the air dam
are all in place, and the fan clutch is working properly, you've got nothing to be worried about.

 

I got my temps down on my 1977 to around 160 to 180 just by installing a transmission cooler. Previous to that I was running between 180 to 210 on my temp gauge. It did not only take the transmission cooler to get it down lower. SO I will go into all of what I did.

First thing I did was install a Mr Gasket dual Stage High Flow 160 Degree thermosat because I like my older v8 engines to run between 160 and 180 degrees. I am old school.

Second thing I did was start at the Tranny itself. Installed a pan with a drain plug and a new tranny filter on my THM350 Transmission. Fluid was almost black from being burnt. I did 2 transmission drains and was ready to perform a third when I installed the Transmission Cooler. The transmission was causing my engine to run hot. Why because the Automatic Transmission uses the Radiator to cool it self down and I had over heating transmission problems in my case. Burnt Fluid and clogged Transmission Filter.

I used Valvoline Dex/Mercon 2 High Mileage Transmission fluid when I started this project even though my 1977 only had about 44,000 original miles on it when I started it. I wanted the extra additives to clean my tranny.

Next thing I did was a Radiator Flush and it took a couple of hours to perform. I had to drain the radiator once it cooled down and flush it by running the engine at idle for about an hour and drove it around for a bit while the flush worked it's way thru the engine with only the Flush and 1.5 Gallons of Distilled Water. Tap water has stuff in it always use Distilled water. I flushed the Radiator Flush 2 times with 2 gallons of Distilled Water. After the 3rd and final Flush I added in a 50/50 mix of Distilled water and Anti Freeze.

It did not need a third transmission fluid change and I had to add a quart of fliud after I installed the tranny cooler.

My engine now runs between the 160 and 180 temps the way I want it to. Test drove it for about 100 miles and got a boil once after 50 miles but the engine was working all the air out again from the radiator flushes. Let it sit and cool for 30 minutes and on my way home did not get over 180 degrees and that was 2 weeks ago since the Radiator Flush.

My engine now does not get above 180 degrees with the 160 Dual Stage Thermostat installed. I am happy with all the work I put into it.

In my mind you have to find out why it is running hot than fix that problem then it will run the temps you want the engine to run at. Some times it requires a new Radiator in my Case it was the tranny heating it up and a slightly clogged Radiator.

 

The things you did helped to increase the cooling capacity of the engine/transmission cooling system. You moved the trans heat rejection effort from the radiator to the new trans cooler.

If your radiator/etc. were in good working order, that would not have been necessary, as that cooling system probably worked fine when new.

Your approach was reasonable, given the age of the system and the cost of replacing the radiator/hoses/etc. But, the problems with the original parts are still there. In any event, you've certainly given your engine/tranny some additional life by adding that cooler.

 

its fine

 

My 70 454 runs 190 even on the hottest days.

 

Like Mike Ward AND "Easy Mike" says:

1. The gage has perhaps a 10% accuracy.
2. the "BOOK" shows: "The opening temp of the thermostat 195 degree"