THERMOSTAT HOUSING LEAKING

[moes]

just fixing a very small thermostat gasket leak after a 2 hour drive in 100 degree weather with the humidity. The 383 ran at 182 degrees on the road, when stopped at a light it went to 195 degrees, and dropped as soon as the car started to move. Here is some good reading about Thermostats and cooling I found years ago on allpar.com. Everybody wants to know what thermostat to use, read these articles.

https://www.allpar.com/fix/engines/cooling-system-about.html

https://www.allpar.com/fix/engines/cooling-caps.html

 

[RJRENTON]

Moes,
Thank you for posting the links to the articles....very informative. In spite of these presented facts, there will be persons that will take issues with the presentation and maintain that 160° F or no thermostat is the best way to proceed. Thermodynamics is an exact science based on proven methodology. And the end of the world is eminent if your coolant goes over 200° F......not. Just my opinion of course.
BOB RENTON

 

[5.7 hemi]

Too cold and ya wash the cylinders and your oil doesn’t burn off the acids and condensation.

Thermostat housing, get one that is o-ringed, ends all problems at the thermostat housing.

 

[khryslerkid]

Last time I'm going to say this...

The temperature that the thermostat is rated for is the temperature the coolant starts to flow through the cooling system, not what the temperature will reach.

 

[wish4hemi]

Thermostat housing, get one that is o-ringed, ends all problems at the thermostat housing.

Yep. Couple different styles out there.
https://moparconnectionmagazine.com/mancini-racing-whips-a-water-neck-drip/

 

[Ranger16]

Last time I'm going to say this...

The temperature that the thermostat is rated for is the temperature the coolant starts to flow through the cooling system, not what the temperature will reach.

I have to disagree with the second part of your statement.The thermostat DOES regulate the temperature it will reach. The following is from Stant.

http://www.stant.com/index.php/english/products/consumer-products/thermostats/abcs-thermostats/

ABC's of THERMOSTATS
The thermostat has two important jobs:

• Accelerate engine warm-up: By blocking the circulation of coolant between the engine and radiator until the engine has reached its predetermined temperature

• Regulate the engine's operating temperature: By opening and closing in response to specific changes in coolant temperature to keep the engine's temperature within the desired operating range
  
  

Thermostat Temperatures

• Thermostats have a “rated” temperature such as 180F or 195F
• This is the temperature the thermostat will start to open, give or take 3 degrees
• The thermostat fully open about 15-20 degrees above its rated temperature

 

[Dennis H]

Mancini Billet housing. Over priced but works. No leaks.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Heres an interesting observation.....the wife’s 2013 JGC 3.6 Pentastar has a 203* thermostat, but it runs 210-220, which is absolutely normal for this engine. What I can’t understand is that the thermostat is probably fully open say around 210, but it’ll run at 210-220 in town. Not much I can do about it, so I switched to full synthetic while staying at the recommended 5w-20, just hoping it’ll handle the temperature a bit better.

 

[Dennis H]

Redeye. Hard to look at these numbers.

 

[RJRENTON]

Wife's 2019 Buick Envision AWD Suv with the 2.5 L 200 Hp Gasoline Direct Injection engine uses an ELECTRONICALLY controlled (by the engine management computer) thermostat. It is set at 205°F. The dashboard coolant temp gauge never varies 205 degrees....A/C on or off, in traffic or highway does not matter as everything is coordinated to operate at that temp. The t-stat will modulate to maintain that setpoint temp even though the coolant is over 200 degrees F, the end of the world has not occured, even though this is above the 180°F generally stated "they said" number.....maybe "they" should reconsider their position?
BOB RENTON

 

[khryslerkid]

I have to disagree with the second part of your statement.The thermostat DOES regulate the temperature it will reach. The following is from Stant.

http://www.stant.com/index.php/english/products/consumer-products/thermostats/abcs-thermostats/

ABC's of THERMOSTATS
The thermostat has two important jobs:

• Accelerate engine warm-up: By blocking the circulation of coolant between the engine and radiator until the engine has reached its predetermined temperature

• Regulate the engine's operating temperature: By opening and closing in response to specific changes in coolant temperature to keep the engine's temperature within the desired operating range
  

Thermostat Temperatures

• Thermostats have a “rated” temperature such as 180F or 195F
• This is the temperature the thermostat will start to open, give or take 3 degrees
• The thermostat fully open about 15-20 degrees above its rated temperature

I kind of thought about the statement that it does regulate the temp. But that's when the temperature outside is below a certain degree like during the winter months. I wasn't going to comment on this because most of us drive in fair weather.

So that said the thermostat won't keep the engine from reaching a higher temperature than what it's rated for unless the t-stat is defective and not opening. It opens at 160* for an example and it will stay open until the engine temperature drops below 160*. Anything above 160* the t-stat has no bearing on the final temp that the engine will reach.

 

[Ranger16]

So that said the thermostat won't keep the engine from reaching a higher temperature than what it's rated for unless the t-stat is defective and not opening. It opens at 160* for an example and it will stay open until the engine temperature drops below 160*. Anything above 160* the t-stat has no bearing on the final temp that the engine will reach.

No no no, the thermostat is almost never fully open (last line in post #6).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_thermostatic_element
"Under normal operating conditions the thermostat is open to about half of its stroke travel, so that it can open further or reduce its opening to react to changes in operating conditions. A correctly designed thermostat will never be fully open or fully closed while the engine is operating normally, or overheating or over cooling would occur."


This article explains it as well, but I am unable to cut and paste the proper paragraph. It's about half way (6th paragraph) down the "How Does It Work" section.
https://www.carbibles.com/car-thermostat/