Glad to hear it was just a bad thermostat.
But do not put off replacing that bottom shroud, belly pan or whatever it is called. It may not seem important (or even matter) until one hot day on the open highway when you overheat going up some grade.
What happens is at highway speeds the cooling air flow is not forced thru the radiator and gets sucked under the car before the radiator without the bottom shroud.
Dan
"Ray O" wrote in news:dPudnWlfb-6e7N_anZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
All the Toyota thermostats I've personally seen are rated 78C, which is
172F.Remember that is an OPENING temp.
A 172F thermostat is fully open at 190F. A 190F thermostat is full-open at
210F, which is way, WAY too high for your car.I have found in my long and painful life that it is very auspicious to find out and follow the factory's specifications as closely as possible.
Well, of course I don't know for a fact that it's bad, I just know it wasn't behaving the way I'm accustomed to - i.e. keeping the temp gauge locked in dead center. It may turn out the 195 deg thermo is fine, maybe even better for gas mileage, I'll experiment to determine. But I just know the 180deg thermo is keeping things within my comfort zone for now.
radiator and
Okay, I appreciate the detailed explanation. I'll have to hunt for that belly pan, probably tossed it in the attic. Maybe the screw holes can be reinforced with plastic glued over them or some such.
Drill new holes in the pan near the original holes and attach with plastic zip ties.
HiC wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@i37g2000hsd.googlegroups.com:
Chances are excellent the 180 is still too hot. See my other reply.
radiator and
"Fender washers" from the local hardware store should do the trick.
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