Car not getting to OP Temp.

[koldfire08]

Well as simple as the title says is one of the symptoms. I water temp gauge will stay down on the cold side, not pinned but just "Cold". RPM feels like it's still under a "Cold-Start" with RPM around the 1000~
I did notice a bit of waterfall sound and that eventually just goes away, i also lost a bit of coolant which i topped off along with the overflow.

*Note* I did the headjob about 15k miles ago, OEM gasket/ARP Studs with a fully rebuilt head along with other parts. I don't understand why i would get these symptoms unless i did something completely wrong with the HG repair. My oil cap just has a very small amount of black sludge in the top, nothing milky, No white smoke or rough idle.
The coolant was a bit discolored.

Any suggestions would help, i plan on doing a compression test and coolant pressure test and see what i get.

Any imput/suggestion are appreciated.
Thanks, Jose

 

[radiod]

90% of the time when it's not getting up to temperature probably it's due to the thermostat. Check and see if it's opening early. OEM thermostats start opening @ ~180* F and are fully open @ 195* F if I recall correctly.

 

[koldfire08]

Would that explain the small amount of coolant loss? I didn't replace the thermostat when I did the head because it was basically new. But I'll have to take it out and test it I suppose.
Just confused as to why I have a small coolant loss and it seems slightly discounted/diluted after fill up?

 

[funky_monkey58]

Is the coolant full?

When I lost a frost plug, the temp didn't register until it was too late, due to the location of the sensor.

 

[koldfire08]

You mean freeze plug? Yeah my coolant is mostly full. I do have a failsafe thermostat which to my understanding it fails it will stay stuck open, so my coolant is in my engine?

 

[hvyman]

Could be the temp sensors.

I had my heater control valve break the other week and lost all my coolant and it didnt budge from normal for a mile or 2(nowhere to stop). Yet it goes up and down like it should and takes a normal amount of time to warm up.

Could be the thermostat. But if you drive for long periods of time the car would eventually get hot like if it wasnt even in there. Easiest way to tell would be to put it in water on a stove with a thermometer and see what temp it opens at.

 

[D.J.T.]

Don't know what it can be. My temp only rises 2-3 notches above C. Ive changed the sensor, even the gauge from the cluster. They work because when we started the car after the rebuild it started overheating & the arrow arose, my water pump was F*kked so it was leaking coolant everywhere. I've tried getting a Thermostat that opens at 190 degrees Fahrenheit but nothing seems to help

 

[koldfire08]

Problem solved. The Fail-Safe thermostat was fully open due to it's failure. Bought a new one and were running good again.