thermo question

[billschroeder5842]

I have a 195 degree thermostat in my car.

My question is will the thermo keep the car operating at a MINUMUM of 195 or a MAXIMUM of 195.

I get home after a hard run and I put a temp gauge on the  radiator and it shows 175.

Thanks!

[Dino]

Neither.  195 is when the thermostat opens to let coolant flow through the engine.  175 is pretty low for a hard run, I'm not sure why it did that.

[twodko]

Unless it was a drive on a cold day maybe. 

[billschroeder5842]

Cool-ish for Texas--about 88

So it sounds as if the 195 is a minimum.

I cleaned the gauge contacts and it seems to read a bit higher--maybe the better contact?

[Ghoste]

The cleaner contacts can affect it, corrosion equals resistance.  As mentioned though, the rating of the thermostat has no impact on what the guage reads or where the car runs, it only indicates the temperature where the t-stat opens to let coolant flow through the rad.