Thread: Problem with radiator cooling

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Well this problem is opposite of the usual problem.My truck is not coming up to temp. During the summer months (110 degrees) I am fine ,no problem.Now here it is winter where the temp is 65-70 or lower,down to 20 degrees.I can drive my truck for about 1 hour (65 degree day)and the temp gauge does not even get above 120 degrees.I dont think thats good for the engine and milage.Where can I start to fix this problem?Thanks

Of the same degree ? or should I go higher or lower?

Well the theromstat is not that old ,does not mean its not bad I know.I have also switched to a BB radiator .The truck is a 89 suburban 350 with tbi .
Dang ,I just hought of something .I just did a replacement on the heater core and I might have the wrong mixture of anti freeze and water.Its possible I am running close to straight anti freezeWell I know the block is not going to freeze over.

Do you think I need to drain all the fliud out and start over?I think straight anti freeze could also keep it from getting to the right temperature,right?

HMMM, your right . I just looked a LMC catalog and the thermostats they offer say

160 summer
180 standard
195 winter

Thanks for the help you know your 89 350 tbi's

Now, do I need to drill hole in the plate,or close off the by-pass hose?

Straight antifreeze is not good at dissipating heat very well.I run 20% antifreeze,1 can of Be Cool additive and the rest distilled water.Seems to work very well.Can't drive it up here in the winter so can't tell you the differance between winter and summer.

How do you get to your 50/50 mix ,do you know exactly how much your system holds?I have no idea what mine holds Let me see if I can research and see how much a suburban holds.I have always mixed until the dark green became half of that ,then called it good

Now I we be able to get the heater to blow some HOT air.

Thats what those things are for ,that will be the first thing I buy.after the 195 thermostat of cousre.Thanksfor the anti-freeze/cooling basicsI knew some one here could help me

You could drain the entire system and buy the 50/50 pre-mix. I use a little better than 50/50 so I mix my own.

That too CFFisher,thats a good idea, but I think I am going to get the gauge with balls so I can test the coolant.This thing all ready needs a different themostat for every season.

Everyone needs balls...

Exactly. ...........

Colored balls???

Bigtruckdriver...You do not need a differant thermostat for every season, just install the 195 thermostat as per Dennyw said, and leave it in. I live in Canada and it gets extreamly cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and I use the same thermostat year round. With the engine running at 195 it also helps stop that little bit of oil sludge build up in the engine.

Like Dennyw said, the proper mixture is 50/50 as there is more than one reason for the antifreeze. First reason is for the coolant not to freeze during colder weather, second is that the antifreeze acts as a lubricant for the water pump, and also helps keep the inside of the block and heads from scaleing with rust, and thirdly it raises the boiling point of the water by about 15-20 degree's so it doesnt boil as fast as it would with straight water.

Running pure atifreeze in your engine is defentetly not a good thing, it will turn to jell when it gets cold. I am wondering if the engine not heating up has something to do with having to much antifeeze and not enough water. I have never run straight antifreeze so i do not know if that would cause the engine to disipate to much heat or not. You posted that your thermostat is fairly new, and since you have to drop 1/2 your antifeeze anyways, try doing what Dennyw said and just add the water to get your 50/50 mixture, then see what happens, if its ok, then great, if not, then as Dennyw said, change the thermostat. ( dont mind me, im just curious to see if to much antifreeze will cause the engine to not warm up so i will know for next time i come across that problem.. )

Ok, so there,s my answer, the antifreeze will not stop the engine from building up heat. I didnt think so, but was worth the thought...