The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Cold running 292

The 292 in my 64 C10 seems to be REAL cold-blooded. Even in the summertime it hardly gets above the cold mark on the temp gauge. In the winter, the defroster won't put out enough heat to melt ice off the inside of the windshield.

So yesterday I replaced the heater blower motor (the old one was pretty weak) and decided to change the thermostat. I'd never seen a 292 thermostat before and I was surprised to see something that looked like a sink strainer. It had a brass bowl with holes all around it and it was marked 180. I figgered 180 otta be good enough to get some sort of heat in the winter...but who knows?

So I went to the FLAPS (called them first to make sure they had one) and when I got there the one they pulled was the same as a smallblock V8. With a little help from the parts guys (my compliments to AutoZone...they were really helpful...of course I've spent enough money there that they otta be) we came up with a thermostat for a Mopar 440 motor that was the same diameter as the bowl-type unit I'd pulled out, but didn't have what I figured were bypass holes. I put it in and it fit just fine. But I got the same results. The temp gauge needle hardly moved and although I could feel warmth on the radiator hoses, they sure weren't hot. I drove it to a car show today and the temp stayed on the way cool side, although the ambient temperature was in the upper 80s. Btw, there's a very kool 47 Chevy AD pickup on that web site, with a TPI smallblock.

Meanwhile, back at the thermostat, I'm wondering if that "extra hose" on the 292 is a thermostat bypass and that it doesn't really matter too much what the thermostat does. I was thinkin of putting a 195 stat in for the winter, but if it gets bypassed, it doesn't seem like there's much of a reason to do that.

Most of the cooling system problems I've had have been with tryin to keep things from overheating. This is just backwards. Oh...I also have a thermal clutch fan on there in place of the stock fixed fan...and it's working fine. When it gets warm under the hood, the fan stops freewheeling and does its job...but it does turn freely when it's cool.

I'm about to lose my cool over the whole deal...I don't wanna go thru another winter like last year where I had to scrape the inside of the windshield whenever the temps get down below 20 or so.

Any ideas?

Sounds like my 292, but in Southern Cal I seldom have to deal with ice. When I first bought the truck it had a 160 thermostat and on a cold rainy night I froze my butt and that's when I discovered it. I changed it to a 180 and it has trouble keeping any fog off, but does provide some warmth.
I have the stock four blade fan and no shroud and the gauge always sits at the top of the cold mark.

Just the nature of the beast. 180 is 180 so I think the heater design just isn't very efficient.

Bump.

Let me simplify this.

Has anyone had trouble with a 292 running too cool (especially in the winter) and if so, how did you fix it?

Did you try a thermometer in the radiator while you run it up to temp? Verify the gauge & thermostat first, then test your bypass hose theory by pinching it off and see where the temp goes.

I have had the same vintage 292 in my daily driver car for a couple winters now & I have ran both 160 & 180 stats depending on the season. Within maybe 5 mi. or less I can see the temp gage come up to whatever the stat. temp is & then drop off momentarily as it first opens. After a couple of these 'hunting' fluctuations it will level off & stay right at the stat rated temp. Maybe not as cold here but we do get ice a few times on winter mornings & I use my defroster. Doug

Sounds to me you have the wrong thermostat. I think all chevy car and light trucks take the same size stat only the big heavy duty trucks take the big ones.

Ray-I use a NAPA 532080 or 532060 depending on the season. Doug

Thanks Doug. I measured the coolant temp after running it for a few miles this morning: 155. I guess I'm gonna have to block off the bypass hose and see what happens.

Btw, ttodd, the lip inside the thermostat neck is too large for a standard-sized (or at least what I'm used to) thermostat. We had to measure the one I pulled out to match it up with something of the same diameter.

Ray - have you checked a NAPA 532090? Take a look at www.napaonline.com - good salt flats pics you got there. I made it up there 3 or 4 yr. in early '70's. Some really good cars there. Doug

For what it's worth, I have a 66 C-20 with a 292 that doesn't seem to get warm in the winter up here (South Dakota) but is great during the summer. I put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator when it gets really cold and it works like champ.

My 292 seems to run on the hot side! Oh well.

Just to provide an update on this: I finally got the NAPA 195 degree thermostat and installed it. Same thing. It still runs real cool. I guess I'm just gonna have to block off part of the radiator when it gets cold.

maybe you got too much fan,,usually sixes kept a 3(w/clutch)or 4 blade fan even up into the 80s,,.you can even remove the fan & try it to see if it is the problem-I knew a fella here w/a 77 C10- took his fan off every fall-put the fan back on in the spring. Said it was the only way to get heat outta that truck in the winter, brian

I've got a thermostically coupled clutch fan on it. I thought that the fixed fan was keeping it too cool. That didn't help, either. Maybe I WILL take the darned thing off. I'm sure I could get away with it in the winter.