Re: cooling

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

When the truth serum kicked in, Nicholas Rayer Jr <nrayer@domain.elided>
blurted out...

>Around town and
>backroads 180, on the highway it climbs up to 200-205, pull off and let
>it idle drops down to 180.

My 76 Traveler with a TF727 auto tranny, V345, thermostatically controlled fan
clutch, 3 core radiator, 180 degree Stant Superstant thermostat, and coolant
filter runs as follows...

     180 degrees at idle in almost any weather
     175 to 180 degrees on the highway when air temp is below about 60.
     185 to 190 degrees on the highway when air temp is above about 80.
     190 to 210+ degrees when pulling an 18 foot travel trailer.

These temperatures are taken at the side of the thermostat housing.

>My questions are, is the location as accurate as the thermostat housing?

It's probably about the same.

>is it getting too hot on the highway, and why? I need to get this taken
>care of quickly before going on a four hour trip to the Nationals.

Those temps don't sound outrageous.  If you have a 16 pound test radiator cap
and a 50/50 mixture of coolant to water, you're protected to about 275 degrees
anyway, so 205 is nothing to worry about.

How old is your thermostat?  Maybe it's not fully opening and isn't allowing a
full flow of coolant needed at higher engine loads?

Regards,

John
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