Pele

This past summer I dropped a lot of cash into my old 4wd Wagon. Among other things, I replaced almost the entire cooling system. Timing belt was due, the radiator had a small hole in it and was clogged with Bars Leaks, and the thermostat was stuck open.

The water pump (and timing belt), radiator, thermostat, fan thermosensor, radiator cap, and hoses were all new. I also replaced the O-rings on the pipe that runs from the water pump housing to the thermostat housing, under the intake. (I broke the bolts for the thermostat housing off, so I had to replace the thermostat housing.)

Two months after all the work, the car started overheating. I shut it down before it got past 3/4 up on the temp gauge. Two months after tha, it happened again. Then a few weeks later, then every other day, till finally, it wouldn't hold coolant any more and blew the cap off the resivour.

Needless to say, this past week I blew my head gasket.

Now, I never let it overheat if I could help it. I never let it get past three quarters on the temp gauge. I also never got past 4k RPM until it was warmed up, at least a quarter on teh temp gauge. But there are several contributing factors that may have led to this, one of which leads to my question.

1.) The hole had been in the radiator for a long time, but it was a slow leak and I kept an eye on the temps. My mother was the previous owner, and she not known for her mechanical aptitude.

2.) And this is my question, The thermostat I took out was a 172 Degree thermostat. The computer at my shop said the car called for a 180 degree thermostat. (Stant brand) Before the old thermostat got stuck open, warmed up meant one quarter to one third of the way up the temp gauge after a few miles of driving or maybe 15 minutes of idling. When it was stuck, there was barely any movement at all, even at highway speeds. With the new 180 degree thermostat, warmed up was halfway up, and it only took a few minutes or a few blocks of driving.