Hey all.

So I went for the inline thermostat mod! I followed this YouTube
I got a little caught up in the details, but basically it doesn't matter exactly where you put the thermostat or the bleeder as long as all the routing is in the correct position.

Before this mod, at idle, the temps would get up to about 204-208 at idle and be 188-193 when cruising. This wasn't horrible but a little hotter than most others seemed to have with the soft spring / warm weather / 180 degree OEM style thermostat.

I installed the inline mod and something interesting happened when I started it up. After the warm up period the temps got up to 202, then dropped all the way down to 174, then up to 197, then down to 180. But the big take away is that at idle it settled at 184!

This is about 20 degrees colder than the 204 it was settling at. I was unable to do a real test drive so I cannot say for sure what the temps will be under real driving conditions but so far so good. I will report back here once I do some real work driving.

 

Sorry forgot the pics:

https://imgur.com/a/bPECI9b

 

I took it for a road test finally. Results are awesome.

Before at stoplights the temps would creep up to 204-208 and now they settle in between 188 and 193. The highest temp I saw was 197 and that was right as the truck was warming up.

It seemed like the longer it ran, the more stable things were. This was probably a result of the thermostat and everything under the hood reaching an equilibrium. It is very reassuring the see the temps barely fluctuate from 188-193 as I get up to speed and come to stoplights. Highly recommend!

 

Sounds like you might've had air in the system initially. Check the coolant level the next few days when you drive it to make sure it's topped up. Glad to hear you got your temps down. I'm around the same range (190-194 at lights and 186-188 on the highway) with just a 180 stat (but no AC).

 

Air and it cycled. Agree.

 

Before the mod, I spent a week parking the front on a curb so it was raised, adding thimbles full of distilled water to the bleed tea, and massaging every coolant hose every time I drove the truck. I probably spent more time trying to bleed the thing than it took me to install the mod. I tried many different thermostats, grey ones, soft ones, OEM ones and I could never get the temps down.

There is something to be said about a solution that just works once installed.

 

I don't understand what you mean.

 

Parking on a curb is NOT steep. If everyone is using a curb to bleed no wonder the air stays trapped.

All good though.

 

What you witnessed was the air cycling through and that inline stat opening. Sometimes it cycles by itself, sometimes it takes a hill or sometimes you think it did but your temps are still high or keep rising.

I look for the temp fluctuation when I bleed.

 

Given the OP's past efforts, it seems like the inline mod makes it easier to get the air out.