engine temp?

[smoker]

dont even know if this is an issue, but when i start the thing up in the morning it takes forever to warm up, but once its warm the guage seems to hang up around the o area of where the guage reads normal (i need a set of guages for this thing).....doesnt run bad or overheat but its still pretty cool outside. normal? gonna do a thermostat and see if things change but figured id post here to see if anyone has had this.

[beentryin]

my 5 liter ranger does same thing takes forever to heat up

[smoker]

im just concerned because i just picked the car up a couple weeks ago and im going on a trip with it, gonna replace the thermostat and hope that it doesnt get so hot when it does finally heat up.

[facemelter71]

Soooooo,you guys have not put autometer guages in there yet????Never believe what the stock gauges tell you.Put a mechanical gauge in there,its the first thing you should do.Oil and water.

[smoker]

ok, new gauges installed. previous owner installed thermostat backwards, of course he only put like 2k on it the whole 6 years he owned it. flushed radiator and cooling system, noticed massive buildup on inside of radiator. also installed 160 thermostat. still running 230 or so. gonna do another radiator and see what that does for it.

[facemelter71]

Dump the 160 and get a 180.Its likely that your t-stat is open all the time and wont close,that will cause the coolant to stay heated.It wont have time to cool off in the radiator.I had a 160 in my 86 and it ran like poopie.Also get a MR.Gasket 180 T-stat.Its the best ive used so far.

[smoker]

picked up a different radiator, now with the 160 stat in it, and the new radiator its running about 185....much better than 230