RTW DC2R

Today I fixed a small coolant leak I had, then I tried to bleed the system to remove any air pockets. Now I got a few questions and just need some confirmation on a few things.

1) What is the stock thermostat temperature rated at? I believe its around 180F?
2) If the fan comes on too early, this can prevent the thermo from opening if the temp doesnt reach the thermostat rating right?
3) How do you know if the thermo is opening or not?
4) If coolant can be seen flowing and circulating through the system (more on this in a sec), does this mean the thermo is actually open? Or is coolant flowing through the head regardless of the thermo being open or not?

The reasons I ask these questions are because when I was bleeding the system, the fan came on and just stayed on, never went off. And as far as Im aware, the fan should come on, the coolant level in the radiator should fall as the thermo opens, add some coolant, then the fan will go off, and radiator will start to spill. Repeat this a few times and youre done. This was not happening. The fan was coming on and the level was staying the same and no air bubbles were coming out.

Now the tricky stuff: Im 99% sure my fan switch is set in my tuning program to come on slightly earlier than stock, but I am using a stock thermo. I made sure the heat was off, and the climate control was on the cold side. The leak I fixed required a new small coolant hose that runs to the TB. So, I happened to use a CLEAR hose, just for testing purposes, and could clearly see there were small air bubbles in the system as the coolant circulated. The coolant was obviously circulating at a quick pace, and increased as RPM went up when opening the TB but I do not know if this happens even with the thermo closed (question 4 above).

walker111

I was gonna mention a bunch but then you threw me off saying that your tuning *** with the fan..... Now I dont know, I had the same problem with my accord and it was the switch..

RTW DC2R

thanks jim lol I dont think I have a problem really, Im just trying to make sure I understand how the system is supposed to work. I imagine if I went out and beat on the car a bit and got the temp a little hotter, Id be able to trip the thermo and see the fluid level drop.

pyitrboy

Think the stock thermo switch is about 185. The fan won't overcool or prevent the motor from getting hot....like you said, it you drive it for a while and feel both upper and lower rad hoses, they should be hot letting you know the thermostat opened. The circulation that you see is just the water pump circulating through the upper rad hose . This still doesn't mean the thermostat opened yet. If you want to make sure you bled it, raise the front of the car, turn temp **** to hot and make sure both rad hoses are hot. Once the thermostat opens the fluid should drop like you say and just fill it up accordingly. Cheers!