Took my daughter to school this morning in my '72, 350 nom coupe. Noticed the temp stayed in the 150 range, and dropped a little while driving. It normally runs at about 170 to 180. The outside temperature was in the high 30's orlow 40's. Is this normal temp...should it be higher? cant tell you much about the engine since the person I purchased from didnt install it. I was thinking about checking the thermo to see if it was stuck open, or if they never put one in. Any thoughts?

 

Yes, I would replace the thermostat if there's one there. If there isn't, put one in.

 

what temp would be recommended?

 

180f

 

I don't know what came with that but it was probably a 195. Some guys like to run cooler, like a 160 or 180. If you don't race, I go with what the factory put in it. If you have an owner's manual, it should be in there. If not, I'm sure someone will post with that info.

 

I would use a 180 degree thermostat for a street driven car.

 

100%
pretty sure it calls for 195 ... get a quality 195.

Also ... dholifield and many others ... could be better served if they would include an APPROXIMATE geographical location in their CF profile. Cooling issues such as this can be directly affected by locations' climates.

 

thanks for all the help. sorry for the omission, I live in Birmingham AL. I have yet to figure out how to update my profile.

 

your car came from the factory with a 195º t-stat because of the emissions equipment and the 195º temp was preferred to help lower emissions levels.
If you still have the emissions equipment on your car (specifically the A.I.R. system) I'd stick with a 195º t-stat. If the emissions equipment has been removed than I'd put in a 180º t-stat.

 

My engine also runs cool and I will replace the stat in the spring (Ma.). is there a special metal stat that needs to be used when the car has an aluminum rad. I know that I purchase a special rad cap for the aluminum system so i am wondering if the stat also needs to be of a certain metal type that will not cause a corrosive situations.

 

I have never heard of a special thermostat for an alum. radiator.

 

nope, nothing special because of an aluminum rad. Just get a high quality t-stat. I prefer the Robert Shaw units because they are a dual path unit and if it fails it still allows coolant to flow thru it unlike lesser quality units that if they fail they usually fail "closed" blocking all coolant flow.
The Robert Shaws are also marketed under the Mr. Gasket brand name

 

You can put in a 500 deg thermostat, it won't matter, mine does the same thing on cool days, stay around 150, cooled by the air, thermostat stays shut. This is 40 deg weather too, I can't imagine what it would read on a sub freezing day. If you let it sit and idle a minute or two after driving it around it should get warmer, but mine cools right down again as soon as it gets rolling.

 

thanks for all the suggestions. so if the temp is running around 150 is there a risk of damage to my engine?

 

Yes, the problem arises from the engine never reaching operating temperature. Over time, this creates sludge in the engine, which, as most know, can shortage its life. The sludge is produced by condensation (water) in the engine which will get into the oil and hamper lubrication. Running without a thermostat is an awful idea. An engine directed by a computer creates another problem as it (the computer) will keep dumping extra fuel into the cylinders since the engine never reaches normal operating temps.

 

With all due respect, I think you may have a problem also. The purpose of a thermostat is to kept the engine's temp at the degree rating of the thermostat. It should never go lower than that number. After starting a cold engine, it should stay closed until it reaches the thermostat's designed temp and then begin to open. If everything else in the cooling system is working properly, that is where the temp should stay. If your engine is operating at 150 after sufficient time to warm up, I would say something is amiss.

 

Sufficent cool air flow around when the car is moving is capable of cooling the motor below the thermostat rating and the thernostat is basically taken out of the equation at this point.

Case in point, a few years ago I drove my V6 Grand Am to work for two or three months in the winter with no antifreeze, nothing, zippo. The shop that does my oil changes was supposed to check radiator coolant level and add if it needed any, it was even on the work order that they checked so I never bothered. For months the heater never worked and I though there was something wrong with the heater but was too lazy to take it in.

I live close to a highway and my work is a minute off the highway at the other end, so this was all I used the car for and I would start it up in my driveway and hit the highway in a couple of minutes and then I would be going at a high rate of speed unitil I got off at the other end where I would park the car within a minute or two. It wasn't untill I hit a warm spell that the car overheated on the way home, I pulled over and could not believe the car had no antifreeze in it.

So with all due respect I believe there is nothing wrong with my car except for the fact that it doesn't warm up to operating temps in cold weather due to ambient cooling, has nothing to do with the thermostat. If I let the Vette sit and idle for a few minutes it will get up to operating temps and the thermostat will come into play