Thermostat Temp

Hi everyone,

Did a search on thermostats and fornd out the normal operating temp is about
200.

My temp runs at 200 or slightly over on warmer days and city driving.

When the temp is about 30 degrees outside, The thermostat stays at 150?(notch
between 100 and 200) this is about 20min worth of highway driving(65MPH).

The heat coming outof the vents, is definately more than warm, but I wouldn't say hot.

Wondering if t-stat is sticking open? Any harm in waiting to change it?

Mechanic says my LIM gaskets were starting to seap, but after coolant flush
and sealent additive, said it had stopped. Said I would probably need to change
the LIM gaskets within a year($750) and to do the thermostat then.

Seems like the thermostat on this car is a real pain to change.

How much has anyone paid to get a t-stat changed?

Thanks, Frank

[Love my GT]

My car is doing the same thing temperature wise. I am thinking about just changing it so I don't freeze my ass to the leather seats when it does get colder out.

[GrandAmGT-2008]

if it runs cold on cold days why don't you just put some cardboard over half the radiator? or something like that..

[Malaclypse]

Originally Posted by GrandAmGT-2008

if it runs cold on cold days why don't you just put some cardboard over half the radiator? or something like that..

Because that's not actually fixing the problem and can be a pain if temperatures fluctuate wildly during the day.

Yes the thermostat is likely stuck open. I'd reccomend changing it. If you're wrong you're only out $10 or so.

[gagt Mechanic]

as long as your not due for emmisions any time soon it is not that big of a deal. your eng running colder will affect your fuel mileage though and may turn on your check eng light.
the t stat is not really that hard, takes about 20 min if youve done one before.

Originally Posted by gagt Mechanic

as long as your not due for emmisions any time soon it is not that big of a deal. your eng running colder will affect your fuel mileage though and may turn on your check eng light.
the t stat is not really that hard, takes about 20 min if youve done one before.

Really. I thought someone had said you have to remove the exhaust manifold to have access to it??

My mechanic acted like its a big deal to change and wait until we have to do the LIM gaskets.

I changed one on a 94 corvette and it was real easy to get to. Though I really haven't had time to look under the hood and see the Grand Am's.

[GA2000GTSpeed]

if i remember right is kinda right below your throttle body... and if u take off your intake and i beleve if u use a 13 mm wrench... and ul want a really short one... because of clearence issues it can be a pain to do and took about 30 min for me to do. you dont have to remove the exhaust manifold at all. the reason i changed myn was because sometimes i would run a lil above 200. and the stock thermo was 195. so i put a 180 in and i run a lil below the 200 mark.

and if your thermo stays open all the time and you take a long trip... you could start to run hot because the coolent constantly runs through the engine and radiator and so then thers no point were the coolent stays in the radiator to cool off. but with it getting colder out youl be fine till spring.

oh and one other thing i forgot to put in here is that it would make it easier to take out the thermo if u take off the exhaust crossover pipe but you can get it fine without doing that.

[Nick-G]

Originally Posted by FrankAR15

Really. I thought someone had said you have to remove the exhaust manifold to have access to it??

My mechanic acted like its a big deal to change and wait until we have to do the LIM gaskets.

I changed one on a 94 corvette and it was real easy to get to. Though I really haven't had time to look under the hood and see the Grand Am's.

He's a moron it basically involves removing your air box or whatever intake you have and Throttle body. The thermostat housing is directly under the TB the first bolt on top is pretty easy to get off its the bottom one that's a PITA but it's really not that hard to do.

[AaronGTR]

Stock thermostat temp is 195. It's probably sticking open so you should try replacing it. As already stated, it's only about a $10 part and it's NOT hard to change.

[gagt Mechanic]

as a added note, you dont have to take the bottom bolt all the way out, the t-stat housing is notched on the bottom so take out the top, loosen the bottom, and slide it out.

[GA2000GTSpeed]

Originally Posted by gagt Mechanic

as a added note, you dont have to take the bottom bolt all the way out, the t-stat housing is notched on the bottom so take out the top, loosen the bottom, and slide it out.

hmmmm never thought about that... ill remember that for next time

[Pass]

Im thinking of changing my thermostat as it takes my car forever to blow warm air out.

Ill leave my car plugged in (block heater) all night then let it warm up for 5-10 minutes in the morning before I start driving. Takes about 20 minutes for the air to come out decently warm (not hot). My brother seems to think changing the thermostat will help a lot... something about it not opening as much as it should...

As you might tell I don't know much about cars... my brother is going to help me change it out... what u guys think?

Thanks

[GA2000GTSpeed]

well is ur car getting up to operating temp??? and ur car will warm up quicker if u have the heater off till its at op. temp.

[Pass]

yes eventually my car gets to operating temperature but it really takes a good 20-30 minutes of driving... I also resist turning the heat on for as long as possible and when I do turn it on... the temperature falls a little bit.... then takes a while to get back to normal operating temp...

[Pass]

do you think im wasting my time changing the thermostat? seems like a fair amount of work from what I have read...

[GA2000GTSpeed]

its not that bad. yah kinda sound like a bad thermostat to me. alls u need is some wrenchs, sockets a flat head and the thermo. take off the airbox and intake tubing. (while draining the coolent) take off the tb. not that bad at all. thenn u can get to the thermo. i the bolts should be a 13mm or 1/2 inch. (there both the same size.) take the top one out = easy. then the bottom one u really just need to loosen. then pop out the old one and pop in the new one. maybe 30 min to do. and reverse the prosess... i put a 180 in when i changed myn. and the needle runs just below 200. so its up to u which one u put in.

[Pass]

My brother put in a new 195 last night. I would of liked a 180 but oh well I didnt even know there was a difference . Took about 1 hour or so having never done it before on this car. Was a little tricky especially that dam lower bolt.

Results: I have heat about 5 times quicker then before. Needless to say, it was a nice comfortable warm drive on the way to school today even in this -15 degree weather. The culprit was deffinitly the thermostat... dam u thermostat. But easy to fix and dam cheap!

The only thing I notice is my temperature gauge now sits a little higher then it did before when the car gets to normal running temperature. It sits at about 90 C which is about 195 F.

thanks for all your help GA2000GTSpeed.

[GA2000GTSpeed]

np. yah itl sitt a lil higher cause now its actually working right.

[razobladez]

Ok, quick question.
My car's temp doesn't move...
Granted its like 10 degrees out. but still.
Before winter came it happened to be doing that as well.
So, i guess its recommend I replace it eh?

[tenspeed]

Originally Posted by razobladez

My car's temp doesn't move...
Granted its like 10 degrees out. but still. Before winter came it happened to be doing that as well. So, i guess its recommend I replace it eh?

Yes and try a piece of cardboard over half the radiator until it's fixed. Don't cover where the fans is. That way if the fan comes on, it can pull air and cool the off.