Re: PAC in Branson

Posted by JD in KC On 2009/6/25 22:59:43

Well... I didn't make it to Branson. I had decided that I could actually deal with adding transmission fluid as needed and was planning to go. As a test run I went to a local show near KC International Airport which is about 24 miles round trip. All went well to the show but the car was running hotter than usual... I blamed it on the weather. On the way back the car started to overheat badly. By the time I got home I was in the 'H' zone and had lost some coolant (1 3/4 Gals) via the overflow tube.

I knew that I didn't have a problem with rust, scale, or a bad water distribution tube because that was all checked out when I had the lifter/valve/ring problems taken care of last fall. The water pump looked ok when it was off the car. I had flushed the radiator and the flow through the radiator was good.

I figured my best bet was a bad thermostat. So off to NAPA I went today and picked up a 160 degree thermostat. The one I took out was a 180 degree and unlike any I have seen before. I installed the new thermostat and decided this was a perfect day to see if that was the problem (97 degrees with hellish humidity). I drove for one hour up hill, down hill, idling in traffic, and at speeds up to 55 mph. The temperature gauge was steady as a rock at midpoint or slightly above throughout the drive.

Don'tcha just love it when things go right and cost less than 10 bucks!