Tired of junk thermostats. Going with NOS. Do I need to drill a hole in in?

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All this talk about drilling a hole. I have done many thermostat's (including several Slants) and never had a problem. Just did one about a week ago on my 360 and no issues???
Exactly. 90% of the time there is no issue. The first time firing a newly rebuild can get some air pockets. Just changing out stats isn't an issue.
 
All this talk about drilling a hole. I have done many thermostat's (including several Slants) and never had a problem. Just did one about a week ago on my 360 and no issues???
Most times you don't. There's always one. lol
 
Exactly. 90% of the time there is no issue. The first time firing a newly rebuild can get some air pockets. Just changing out stats isn't an issue.
Yup. That's always the time it might happen. When the cooling system is SLAM empty.
 
This summer my '64 Dart slant six was over heating on hot days. The local radiator shop suggested to get the radiator cleaned and rodded. I decided to wait until winter because he was very busy. He is a good radiator guy and has worked on a few of my old cars over the years.

I fooled around with it during the Summer. I ran some cleaner for about 500 miles and had it back flushed. Things improved a lot but the engine tempo was varing alot. I bought and installed a new 180 thermostat, with the the erratic results. I pulled that termo and bought and installed a more expensive one. No change.

I'm kind of hardheaded, and installed a FlowKooler Robertshaw 180 330 series thermo.

Bingo!

Thermo guage right on. To make sure, I used my laser temp. reader on the radiator top and btm hose connectors and readings showed the raditor seems to be cooling the water as it should.

Around 170 going in and 145 to the engine.

I'm forced to conclude that 2 new thermostats were defective and the Robershaw worked as it should.

Has anyone else experienced disappointment with junk thermostats?
Any good results with the Robertshaw FlowKooler?

I'll see if these good results continue when hot weather arrives next summer and post results.

Steve
 
This summer my '64 Dart slant six was over heating on hot days. The local radiator shop suggested to get the radiator cleaned and rodded. I decided to wait until winter because he was very busy. He is a good radiator guy and has worked on a few of my old cars over the years.

I fooled around with it during the Summer. I ran some cleaner for about 500 miles and had it back flushed. Things improved a lot but the engine tempo was varing alot. I bought and installed a new 180 thermostat, with the the erratic results. I pulled that termo and bought and installed a more expensive one. No change.

I'm kind of hardheaded, and installed a FlowKooler Robertshaw 180 330 series thermo.

Bingo!

Thermo guage right on. To make sure, I used my laser temp. reader on the radiator top and btm hose connectors and readings showed the raditor seems to be cooling the water as it should.

Around 170 going in and 145 to the engine.

I'm forced to conclude that 2 new thermostats were defective and the Robershaw worked as it should.

Has anyone else experienced disappointment with junk thermostats?
Any good results with the Robertshaw FlowKooler?

I'll see if these good results continue when hot weather arrives next summer and post results.

Steve
Like stated previously, test everyone in a pot of water on the stove with a thermometer before installing.
 
I installed a 180* Stewart high flow t stat and it worked perfect all summer...180* on the nose. Went for a fall cruise at 0*c / 32*f and the car ran stone cold. An hour of driving on the highway barely got it over 160*. Not sure what is going on? Maybe stuck open?

I have an Autometer mechanical temp gauge with the sender mounted in the T-stat neck.
 

I installed a 180* Stewart high flow t stat and it worked perfect all summer...180* on the nose.

Remember, the thermostat sets the minimum operating temperature, not the maximum.

Went for a fall cruise at 0*c / 32*f and the car ran stone cold. An hour of driving on the highway barely got it over 160*. Not sure what is going on? Maybe stuck open?

Yup.
 
I have a Lisle brand spill free funnel that you fill the system with, let it run and the air will bubble it's way out of the system. Also, not cheap, but there are cooling system vac's that pull all the air out and then the suction draws coolant in. No air in the system. The small hole in the stat and let it run with the cap off is the cheapest and works well. Like mentioned before. Test every t stat before installing it. Many/most new ones don't work, right out of the box.

View attachment 1716481461

On my 360 I used this and had the car on a slanted driveway after a water pump replacement. My thermostat came with a small hole already. I filled the funnel about 1/4 of the way and ran the engine. I had to add some coolant a few times. Be careful because you can get some burping and overflowing. After a couple of minutes of the car running all the burping went away. Really nice tool to have.
 
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