I forgot to ask if there is a drain tap on the radiator bottom or if sucking coolent from the top is the easiest way to lower the level.

Went by an O'Reilly's yesterday and picked up a 180 degree non-locking T-stat with a bleed hole and giggle pin; Box says Murray Ultra 15358 made in Israel. Their next choice was a 195 degree; seemed safer to go cooler than OEM rather than hotter, but I'll check it in a pan first to see where it actually opens.

I bought a generic chevy engine T-stat gasket to see if it can be made to fit because the one they show for both a 98 and a 96 Disco was a large one with 5 or 6 holes around the center opening. Got to take swmbo to the doctor today, but will try to check out the T-stat tomorrow.

 

No radiator drain. Its easier and creates less mess to siphon from the top rather than drain out the lower radiator hose.

 

OEM tstat is fully open by 88C/190F.

apparently, UK stats lists temp when fully open, US ones when they start to open. so a stant/motorad/whatever 180F stat is correct for OEM. I'm running a genuine LR 88C one, for no reason other than to keep it working as it was designed (and it was only 6 or 7 bucks). it's been cooler now since summer is over, but i've yet to see anything above 188-190F according to my gauge.

 

Hey, I'm just curious if other people's gauges display 'roughly' correctly, or if the needle is off? On mine, the vehicle temp is correct but the needle sits about 1/2 way up the scale when warm. It would seem to me that it would be more correct if it were at about 2/3 to 3/4 up the scale based on my other vehicles.

What are you guys experiencing?

 

the factory gauge is useless. you have a 98, get a scan gauge or an OBDII bluetooth module and use your phone to know for sure. i have a new sender and gauge wired in on my truck. when my gauge gets to "normal" first thing in the morning, my actual temp is only 140-150F. takes another 5 minutes or so to get up to operating temp.

 

Yes that's normal. Above half is overheating. It's dumb.

 

Testing the new 180 T-stat in a pan on the stove it appeared to start opening at 184 F and was fully open at 195 F, but I was using a non-contact thermometer which may have thrown it off a bit. When installed, the temp on my UG cycles between 179 and 205 F, and the dash gage sits just above the bottom operating range mark.

I saw today that Partsgeek carries a proper 88C T-stat and also the correct metal gasket (like the one that was on mine with the old 195 F T-stat that didn't close all the way). If I ever need to change T-stats again I'll go that route. I just hope 180 is not too low for the bottom of the operating range.

BTW, I was getting 95 to 105 F at the cabin heater vents with the engine warm and the heater ***** to full heat; sound about right? And it still threw codes P1313 and P1314 climbing a steep hill; guess cleaning the throttle body, MAF, and plenum connections and hoses is next on the list.