Good day Brickers!
I live in Minneapolis where the temperature go down to -30F some times during winter. Got the car last fall and noticed the engine temp didn't wanna go up. Took the compensation board out and some other small fixes, occationally it would go up half inch but most of the time didn't move at all. Mpg in some of the winter months was down to 15. Summer came and everything got much better. Temp started acting like normal and did so the whole time and Mpg between 25-30. As soon as outside temp went down again I started to see a differens in Mpg, it's now on 20 with 40 degrees outside and going down. I had a theory that fan clutch is not working proberly and leaving the fan allways engaged. It's not supposed to be on all the time right? I know I have a small hole in the exhaust right after the CAT and an irregular idle where I can't find a vacuum leak. Any theories?

Thanks for reading,

John

Hello,


I really wished you would have asked this question last year!! Your engine probably wore at a much faster rate because your Engine Coolant Thermostat has failed.

Replace it and your exhaust system for improved emissions and fuel millage.


Goatman

Agreed, it's a bad thermostat. You can have a car that will never warm up, especially if you don't do much city driving, regardless of the fan clutch condition.

Happy Bricking, and always spend the $10 for a NEW thermostat. Your engine depends on it.
--
1990 740 Turbo, on its way to stock specs, maybe beyond

he'll need a dead ect AND a dead gauge sender to have the gauge low and a bad mpg.

on the flip side he'll need a thermostat stuck open AND a fan clutch stuck engaged to create the same effects.

Hey!
I forgot to mention I did replace the thermostat with a used one that I thought was good and it got better for a week and then back to same old. When it then got summer and everything seemed normal I didn't think the thermostat was it. I'll get a new one.

Thanks

John

I would get the 92C thermostat.
--
Bruce S. near D.C.

I agree with all the posts on this. I had this same problem - although to a lesser degree (except where I live it's warmer in the winter...so maybe it's to a greater degree...lol) Anyway, I had the incorrect temp (summer thermostat) in when winter showed up. I was a lazy slug...or is that a frozen slug. Needless to say, I decided to leave it in and do what the old...OLD timers used to do - I took a piece of 1/4 inch plywood sheet the same size as my radiator, drilled three rows of five 1 inch holes. I affixed the plywood shield in front of the radiator, and presto! my engine temp went up to just below the half-way mark. Of course, the old...old...OLD timers used to throw a horse blanket over the radiator and call it a day. The moral is, prep the car BEFORE winter, or get creative afterwards!

Thats funny!
I had plans on doing something similar 'cause I allways make a mess replacing the thermostat but.. I got a new one and now the temp is perfect!

Thanks again people,
John