What is the annodized part sitting above the alternator? What's it's function? Also, isn't that hose coming a tad too close to the belt? Could justs be the angle of the photo.

 

That's used to bleed the air out.

 

Got it! And never mind about the hose distance from the belt...the factory set up is the same.

 

I finally did this mod after battling heating gremlins to the point of insanity. I live in warm New Mexico and run a 185 stat year round. Entire mod is wonderful, I totally recommend it. I also installed a mechanical temp gauge with the sender between the t-stat housing and the radiator return inlet. Mine looks just like pic above except for the above mentioned temp sender.

 

I like the inline mod, too. It just seems more elegant than the stock thermo, and it seems more stable, too.

That said, I'll be curious to hear if your truck can maintain 185 in NM heat. My truck climbs about 10 degrees during the summer and sits around the low 190s (I'm running a 180 degree stat). I've been thinking about an electric fan mod to try to stabilize the temp right at 180 (and take the load off the water pump).

 

I expect it to run 190-195 in the heat. No problem at all with that number. Drove to Lubbock and back in ambient of about 80. Never got over 190, and was stable at that temp. I have no desire or need to install an aux. fan. I really believe that 185 for my t-stat is unrealistic for any ambient temp. It's gonna run hotter than t-stat rating any time it's warm outside.

 

^that was my mechanic's arguement when I told him I had bought a 180 degree thermostat to put in myself. He said the sludge build up prevention you get from those high temps is worth more than a having the coolant be a few degrees cooler. He said "That Motor don't care how hot it is...within reason of course..." I guess he's got me talked into leaving the stock stat in place as I have not installed the 180 degree one yet... but I also haven't returned it yet either...lol

 

Look at it this way - why does any manufacturer make a 180 degree thermo if it's bad for the engine? The stock thermo on these engines introduces a wide temp swing anyway (up to 50 degrees C in cold weather, if memory serves, it's in the RAVE), so the stock value can let it get up to almost 250, which is very hot anyway you slice it. And remember the engine design is 50 years old; Land Rover introduced this weird thermostat to an engine that didn't use it for 30ish years.

There's few of us who suspect that the head gasket issues are exacerbated by wide temp swings into very high temps. A cooler thermo will help fight this, and an inline will help even more.

Like we were just saying, a 180 thermo will actually run at 190ish most of the time. That is a normal operating temp for an engine.

 

Yes, doc, I agree with your assessment. The engine will cool down real fast in brisk weather because aluminum dissapates heat so fast. I live with the swings in cool weather. I may be wrong, but I think higher engine coolant temps are a byproduct of attempts to lower emissions. A hot engine burns cleaner, the way I understand it. I think the head gasket issue is simply a case of too narrow of a sealing surface around the cylinder bores, particularly at the rear of the heads. When mine failed, I couldn't believe how little surface area there was between the bore and the water jacket.

 

you can get a 185 for the inline. that worked best for me, until I went another route.