Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Performance owners of low-temp thermostats

The new old Tour I bought seems to have a low-temperature thermostat in it, or maybe a jammed one: the gauge barely gets up to the bottom of the mormal range. So my question is, to those of you who buy low temperature thermostats on purpose: how high does the gauge go, and is the bottom of the normal range on the dial too low?

It doesn't help that this car's automatic fan switch is broken, and some goober put in a manual switch for the radiator fan, instead of fixing it. To be safe, I mostly leave it on. Better too cold than too hot.

I've got a 180 deg Stant Thermo. Since that install and new coolant and flush I never got over R but never stayed at the N mark for long periods of time. Can't say it's bad but neither can I say nothing is wrong.

My gauge will stay around O......in traffic on a hot day it will get up to R....soon as I start going....back to O.

I think I've got a stuck-open thermostat... running so cold that if it was winter the defogger wouldn't be working. I remember what that was like on the shytti old Mazda 6 I had once, where somebody put it back together with no thermostat at all...

Speaking of parts being left out, I found that somebody left the brake pad retaining clip off my left front wheel. This is good because I thought I needed new brakes but it was just the caliper occasionally rubbing the inside of the wheel due to the lack of the spring.

Another thing going on with my cooling system is somebody put a manual switch on the radiator fan instead of repairing the automatic switch.

Lots of little things wrong, but I got it for a third of what I thought my car replacement budget was going to have to be.

Just replaced the driver side mirror. Now I just have to paint it so the sides match... probably end up steel-wooling the passenger side one and spraying it black. It's scuffed anyway.

170 t-stat and oil cooler, needle never passes the "N".

I have a 180 and I don't go above the O in normal driving. In winter, I sometimes didn't even get into normal range on way to school. I have added some redline water wetter and now, when the t-stat opens at 180 when doing aggressive or slow driving the temp actually drops back down unlike it used to. My low speed fan has worked only once since I've owned the car, so I can't idle for long or the engine gets real hot and the high speed won't kick in until it gets out of the normal range.

I have a 180 and it usually doesnt go above 180 (aftermarket guage). When it had the 195 and the OEM guage, I would sit at the L.

I've got a 170 and the needle is still in the same spot as stock, but with a OBDII monitor hooked up, it shows around 170F at highway speeds. I like it.

Test your Temp sender, test your gauge........