^^^^^This is the warmest it gets!!!
I have a 96 Blazer. 4.3 Vortec.

Any idea why the temp only gets to 150/160 degrees tops?

This is the hottest it EVER gets, and as you can imagine the temp of the heat ain't for crap. Been making for some chilly mornings. The heater core was replaced maybe 5k miles ago and the coolant is full.

I am thinking since the temp never gets above 150/160 degrees, maybe the thermostat needs to be changed out to a warmer one? I thought I remembered reading there is a reason our blazers had a cooler thermostat in them but I cannot remember for sure.

I just wanted to ask this to see what you guys think before I change thermos.

Also this thing has had this problem since I bought it, I just delt with it before. now that this is my only vehicle, my gf is gonna kill me if I don't get more heat out of this thing! [sm=bicker.gif]

Any ideas?

 

Put in a 195 degree thermostat and a new Stant lever-vent radiator cap.

 

Yah I agree get the better stant 195 thermo, and while your changing it you might as well fllush the cooling system to get rid of deposits.

 

That's mine too, but I put in 2 stat's (195*) and a new cap, and a new temp sensor in the head.It was up to temp once, than that was it for a short time, why ? Could I have air in there? a/f is full. with the cap off (engine cold) start it and when it warms up a/f starts to spill out, race it and it really runs out of the neck, plus it's a new radiator.

 

To the OP, I would definitely suspect a bad thermostat. There is no "cooler" thermostat stock. 195*F is the rated opening temperature for these trucks. You do have to be sure that you get it installed correctly (not upside down) and also that the system is bled properly. I have seen air in the system cause all sorts of odd problems from not reaching proper temperature to overheating in short order.

To bleed the system, have the front of the truck elevated slightly over the rear with the front passenger corner slightly higher than the driver corner. This will give the air the best possible chance of getting out of the block/heads/hoses. It does not stop their either. Check your coolant level daily (when cold) for the next few days and add as necessary.

If the cap has not been replaced, it is cheap insurance against a faulty cap causing even more problems.

 

Sorry guys I should have searched first. I see there is tons of posts just like this one. My bad. Sounds like I will be replacing the thermo tonight. I will do some searching for a how to on it (never replaced one). Sounds easy tho. Any advise on bleeding the air out? I see to elevate the front passenger side, but then do you just take the radcap off to bleed the system?

Stant lever-vent radiator cap.....and this. Never heard of it? Can I just pick this up a NAPA or something? I am also having a couple shifting issues with my tranny also so hopefully this will knock that down some also.

I will search from now on! Thanks for the help guys!

 

The stant cap is available at pretty much anywhere. Walmart even. The nice feature is that you can remove the cap with the system under pressure. The lever allows you to bleed the pressure off to the overflow bottle before removing the cap which is a very nice feature.

As far as bleeding the air out of the system, I like to put it through at least two heat cycles (get the engine up to operating temperature, then let it cool off and repeat) with the cap off and the passenger front corner elevated higher than the rest. This can take some time though.

 

Another related question, when I bought this truck recently, it had new lower,upper,rad hoses. when I squish them they never put the springs back in them, could this be my problem? Where can I buy just the coil springs?

 

So here is what I got. I have the thermostat and one of the rad covers you guys were talking about. I can't do a flush where I am now (live at apartments) so I couldn't do that until this weekend. Problem is this weekend I am taking the blazer on about a 3 hour trip hauling a trailer with 3 quads and a dirt bike on it so I can't do it.

I scheduled a time with a place here in Des Moines to get the coolant system flushed, and the tranny flushed and filter replaced (needs it REALLY bad). It is gonna cost me 200 bucks. BUT the reason I decided to do it is they are have a special. The 200 bucks covers a tranny flush and filter change, a coolant system flush, new wipers, an oil change, all fluid top off, and an inspection. I think I got an ok deal. The flushes will be nice to have done and my 3k miles is up in about 500 miles on the oil so it is close enough to time (hate paying someone else to change my oil, but it is included).

Here is my question, I am changing out the thermostat tonight, will doing this flush tomorrow cause problems with the new thermo? I wouldn't think it can, but just wanted to make sure. I would rather do it all myself but good old Iowa weather snuck up on me (34 degrees and drizzle right now) so I don't really want to lay in the parking lot of my apartment to do all this crap.

Thanks again

Kenton

 

The flush will not hurt the new thermostat job unless it blows some gunk loose that might wedge into the thermo's spring (not terribly likely, though).