Renix Thermostat question

Please forgive my ignorance .... !!!1

Ok so here is the deal.
89 Renix Jeep was over heating, dirty coolant, possibly clogged radiator and such, pressure bottle was leaking. Any-who I did a conversion to a 92 plus Radiator. While I was at it I thought it would be clever to install a 180 degree thermostat thinking it would make little difference. Turns out that the new cooling system and thermostat made a big difference, and now the jeep wont go past 155 degree's most of the time.

I have a smog test at a test only next week and I need to know if running that cold will make me fail smog.

Thanks for the help guys...

Is the hose from the radiator to the thermostat housing getting hot? Reason is the radiator won't come into play unless the thermostat opens up...which is 180 Deg. Maybe your temp guage is not working properly?

There has to be something wrong. It should heat up to at least 180. That is the purpose of the t-stat. You probably have an air bubble at the temp sender giving you false readings.

There is a little air bleed hole on the thermostat....that should be at the top of the hole. Possibly the problem?

The thermostat is definately doing its job I watched it hit 180 degrees sitting in my buddies shop when I was testing it. At 180 the thermostat opened and the temp droped. But when i'm driving around the tem is usually around 155. On the way home from work today the hottest it hit was right between the 155 and the 210 marks so about 180ish but that was just for a min or 2 then it droped back down

The thermostat should open up while it idles in the driveway. Start it from cold and open the hood...waite for the hose to get hot and then check you temp gauge. The radiator should get hot and the mechanical fan will blow hot air at you.

If it's only reading 155 while driving something is wrong with the guage. Verify that the radiator is getting flow and the t-stat is opening, the air bleed hole is correctly oriented etc...the lower hose still has it's spring?

Your gauge might be wrong or you have an intermitant short in the wiring.

time to do a little detective work in the driveway

Since you are in Cali like me, suggest going for "pre-smog" check, otherwise you may have the problem I had of having to go to a "Smog Ref". VERY unpleasant experience. I was missing the t-stat (didn't know it) and failed smog to become a "Gross polluter". You may need to return to the 190 deg. t-stat for the smog, just be sure to burp the eng real well. BTW, now smog legal w/190 deg t-stat and intrepid bottle for closed sys on an 89.

If your cooling system is deficient, a lower temp stat will not help. In other words, a lower temp stat does not increase your ability to cool. A lower temp stat may keep you from running closed loop, in which case you will likely not pass the smog test.