Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting temp gauge reading after coolant change

I had my cooling system drained and filled last Saturday. Before the change, the temp gauage on my 98.5 Mystique LS (2.5L) would point the letter R on NORMAL on the dash. After the coolant change, the needle barely goes past the letter N.

Is this normal or something wrong with my thermostat?

I can not be 100% possitive but that seems to be ok. My fathers 95 SE and my mothers 99 SE both run around N/O on the temp guage. My guess is the new coolant is just doing it's job better then the old used up coolant. I on the other hand can't comment to much since my Zetec is always around M or higher at times. Honestly I wouldn't worry unless the engine shows signs of overheating or the guage shoots into the red

Not sure what you mean by "had my cooling ststem flushed". In most cases drained and refilled would be more accurate terminolgy. I presume thermostat was not replaced.
It's always possible that by disturbing system some crud could loosen up and move to thermostat, blocking it from completely closing. It's also posssible recollection of before position of indicator is in error.

Suggest that you let car idle to operatig temp, put foot on brake, headlights and rear defroster on place car in drive, then watch/listen as temp rises, cooling fans come on, temp falls, fans go off. Let it go thru' this cycle once or twice, during which temp should only vary by about a whole letter. Then do it again only shut car off when fans come on and let it sit for a few minutes. While not guaranteed, this will excercise thermostat over its normal range and possibly allow crud to circulate elsewhere.

Afterwards I would just get used to the now normal position of temp indicator.