bad thermostat?

[88ranger]

well lately when i drive my ranger i get none or very little heat, and yesterday when i was driving it went from below cold to over the hot mark in labout 30seconds, i'm thinking maybe my thermostat is stuck closed?

 

[Psychopete]

well lately when i drive my ranger i get none or very little heat, and yesterday when i was driving it went from below cold to over the hot mark in labout 30seconds, i'm thinking maybe my thermostat is stuck closed?

Sounds like you might be low on coolant. If so, then you probably have a leak somewhere..

Pete

 

[88ranger]

hmm, ok.. i did a radiator flush last week, and i only had one bottle to fill it up, so i should get some more asap then?

 

[mhughes165]

oh ya, and u shoulda put a bottle of water in with that bottle of coolant correct?? 50/50 blend is always the best, unless u got the premixed shit

 

[mhughes165]

i forgot the exact capacties of the cooling systme, but it usually takes about 2 gallons of anti freeze and 2 gallons of water for a complete fill

 

[88ranger]

i got the 50/50 that was already mixed, im gonna run out and get some

its 7.2 quarts without AC, and 7.8 with AC

 

[Psychopete]

It always seems logical to me to use the pre-mix. NEVER put tap water into your cooling system. Otherwise use distilled if you're mixing yourself. Tap water will instantly ruin a warantee on a new radiator.

Just check it, I didn't say you are, I just said it sounds...

Pete

 

[88ranger]

no i didn't put tap water into my radiator, when i was looknig at coolant at the parts store and i was looking at it and was like why would i want ot mix it myself.. not really much of a price difference

 

[AllanD]

Usually if you have a bad thermostat that causes you to get "no heat"
it's a thermostat that's stuck "open"

The coolant to the heater core doesn't flow through the thermostat.
and until you get "heat" the T-stat shouldn't even start to open.

I think you didn't properly fill and "burp" the cooling system.

AD

 

[sparchy]

Replace tstat

For the price of a Tstat it's worth it in the long run if your worried that it might the problem to just put a new one in. It's cheap insurance and then you know you have a good one in. Another way would be to take the old tsat out and put it in boiling water. See if it opens up. But for what little they cost compared to overheating or on heating the best play would be to just replace it for peace of mind.