Reply to "Thermostat or not ???"

Gromo,

J deryke is right! I went through the whole gambit with mine this past year. I didn't know about the radiator bypass disk under the thermostat then, nor did the local Ford parts guy or the local parts store. I went from a 180 to a 160 thermostat and it got hotter. I couln't understand until I ask the folks at Wilkerson Pantera (it may be Wilkinson). They advised the water went through too fast and would continue to heat up. They said the Cleveland engine is designed to run between 180 and 190 degees. I then had do-gooders advise me to "plug" the bypass hole. This is a BIG mistake. The engine can't circulate water and heats up VERY quickly. Then the stagnant water has to heatup way too much before transfering to the thermostat and it then pops open. Then the cold water is sucked in by the water pump and hits those, by now, hot heads. If the thermostat happened to stick and delayed opening, you've got yourself a warped heads.

I run the correct Cleveland 180 thermostat with a Miloden high volume water pump, a Fluidyne aluminum radiator with two sucker fans. I have no problems even on a 100� day here in South Georgia while running the A/C.

[This message has been edited by Pantera1252 (edited 07-04-2002).]