how cold is too cold
 

I know this seems like an odd question but after all my wrenching my disco runs below 180 around the city 185 or so on the freeway or with the ac on. i ask because i know my experience with jeep is they run like crap if you run them too cold.

by all means im not complaining or bragging it took many hours and a good bit of change to get her to run at anything under 200.

At that temp, you need to make sure you are at least running in Closed Loop or the ECU will run your engine full rich.

Change your t-stat to a hotter one, I run a 195 and my truck runs right at 196.
OEM temp on a DI is 190.

I don't live in the frozen area of the country, and it is very hot here, and I enjoy running 180 - 183 F with my 180 F stat. I go to closed loop within seconds after crank up. The 3.9 liter version of the engine (like in a 94 Defender) had a stat in it that was rated to be FULLY OPEN at 82 degrees C per the RAVE. They even tell you how to test it with hot water. That was before the smog swilling regulations decided to make engineers run things at the edge to knock out a little pollution. If you are going to closed loop fueling, you're good. If I lived down the street from Spike, I'd run a 195 in the winter and 180 in the summer, like grandpa did. Spike and I each have Kia minivans for SWMBO chariot, and they run at 180, get good mpg, and mine turned past 230,000 miles this week. There is nothing wrong with running at 180F, if other things are working as they should.

I run pretty well a constant 188 no matter what the situation is. With a drilled 180 degree thermostat mod.

Sounds good im in new Orleans so wd hardly see sub 40* temps down here most of the time we are around the upper 90's most of the year. the truck does go into closed loop so i think i will just keep it the way it is and be glad im not over heating anymore

Amen on that. IMHO the "going to closed loop" is more of a wait on CAT temperature to "light off"

From the GEMS cpu manual:


Engine Coolant Temperature is > 700 C AND Average Oxygen Sensor Heater Supply < 90%.

70 degrees C is 158 F, so running a 160F stat in the truck might not produce desired results (you would stay in open loop for a longer time, run rich ( actually running "low wallet" from making the petrol czar rich)).

I know you have never changed the t-stat in your wifes Sedona Buzz but I have to change it in my wifes Sedona.
The van runs in the high 170's to low 180's and there is little to no heat unless you are on the highway, which it never is and its not even winter here yet but it is cold at night, thank God for remote start.
I am in the process of looking for a hotter t-stat for it and so far I cannot find one.
I am going to talk to the dealer and see what they say.

I found this thread while researching my own "too cold" oddities. This week I had to take the rover on a 650 mile round trip, and the temp (according to ultragauge) stayed around 160 most of the trip. Air intake temps were between 41 & 51, but I was under the impression it wouldn't make that big of a difference. (During hotter weather it would easily get up to 200 on the highway.) At one point I got it down to 120, (but that was coasting down a mountain,) and it never went above 180. Which, coincidentally, is the thermostat I have. Also, it never went into open loop, except for a second or two occasionally that I noticed.
I did remove one of the electric fans that wasn't working. My logic being that I'd replace it once the weather warms up, and what's the point of obstructing part of the radiator in the meantime?
From what I gather, there's no harm done to the engine by its running cold, with the exception of even worse gas mileage. But I'm really curious as to why, all of a sudden, it decided to go from borderline meltdown to colder than normal?

i have noticed that my heat is not so great and that is reflected by the temp gauge (factory) only going up about 1/4 of the way up though it does get there fast, i did the stat within the last year or so with a oem temp ( according to the parts store computer)