164 thermostat query, and a progress report on my "new" 164
 

Howdy again. An update on my "new' 164's progress towards reincarnation... but first a quick(ish) question.;

I've fitted an new 82 degree thermostat to cure the very cold running and very long warm-up time that was part of the overall picture when I bought it, along with a lengthy list of other minor gremlins.

It still only runs at just above 1/3 of the way up on the temperature gauge, though it now gets there very quickly, and after all the remedies applied in other areas is now running very nicely.

Skandix have an 87 and an 88 degree thermostat for the B30 engine, and it's a simple job (you may recall I didn't know how to fit the gasket last time, but I have at least learned that lesson).

My question is... would either of these thermostats make any difference to the "warmed up" final operating temperature, or would it just take a bit longer to get there from cold? I thought my idea was a simple "fix", but having thought about it a bit more, I'm not so sure now. I'm also not sure it's a problem that actually needs "fixing".

My friendly local mechanic has done some of the rehab stuff over the last few days since he's been given the OK to start his business up again. I'd already done a fair bit myself, but he actually knows what he's doing, and he picked up several things I've missed, and pulled it all together for me. I had just wanted him to flush the brake fluid, but he was having so much fun finding little things I'd missed that he sorted all my left over engine-running glitches and got it running properly).

Anyhow, he reckons I should block off part of the radiator, to get it running a bit hotter. That's when I suggested an alternative of a higher opening temp thermostat, but he preferred his solution. That is, he just grunted, without agreeing with me.

Opinions welcomed.


Overall, I'm now very happy with my new maroon limo, though I've yet to find a suitable monniker for it. Never had a car yet that didn't have a name, but it will come.

When I got it home just before the lockdown it ran cold, was hard to start, needed choke for a long time, seemed a bit gutless, and ran on badly when switched off. It also over-revved in neutral and park.

It had dead hoses ... all of them, cooling, breathing, vacuum, had been fitted with a battery that was only held in by a rubber door wedge, and to my horror had a melted battery charge cable.

Now it has new battery that actually has been bolted in properly, new radiator and heater hoses and heater control valve, all new vacuum hoses, new plugs, condensor, points, coil, dizzy lid, HT leads, a jamming choke has been freed up, a missing bush in the throttle control that allowed the control to slop around has been fitted, carbs balanced and tuned. It runs beautifully now.

I and my mechanic have had a good gander underneath and he's pronounced my brakes and hoses to be all in good nick, and neither of us can find any metallic mole evidence underneath. Things are looking very good.

The cooling system has been well and truly flushed, as has the pas, and I'll finally get to doing the engine, diff, and trannie oil, weather permitting. They seemed to be about the only things that were probably OK when I picked the car up, but will all get a birthday anyway.

It's surprising how often I need to drive the 10 miles to my nearest decent sized food shop for "essential" items (I now have a good stash of dunny roll), but we have almost zero traffic over here, and I take it very quietly. It's glorious. And oh, so essential.

Speaking of miles.... a few miles of wiring have been surgically removed, related to the horrible, possibly custom-made 3 tons of towbar. The towbar itself has also gone, plus a very dodgy alarm system. It was these add-ons, wired in by somebody that I would hate to have wire my home, that presumably made the charge cable melt. Possibly years ago when the original owner was towing a caravan.

A small calibre cable had been run from alternator to a connecting block, where it tied into the original battery charge cable which ran back to the battery positive terminal. But that first cable also fed on to a relay that in turn fed the towbar connections and the alarm system.

While nothing else had melted, that first cable from alternator to connector block was mostly bare copper innards which could have been in contact with metal at any time.

There may have been a short in the caravan or the towbar connection that allowed the first bit of wire to get cooked, but didn't affect anything else, though I can't really figure that scenario out.

Now the car is wired 100% as per the wiring diagram, and the extras (fire hazards) are all gone.

I'm really enjoying this bus.

Leroy (actually it's Lee)

To me blanketing part of the radiator seems a crude solution.

I live in Malta with my 164 and I have fitted a summer 72C Thermostat - which is definitively too cold for winter but works in summer when stuck in traffic jam.

Summer temps in Malta average 26c to 36c.

Does your radiator have a shroud for the fan ?

This also has an impact on the cooling effectiveness as well.

Then there is the question of the viscous coupling for the fan - does that work correctly ?

Hi Volvo Saint,

yes it does have a shroud, which I expect should significantly improve cooling, while I seem to want the opposite. But I'm in no hurry to take it off.

You make a good point re the viscous coupling fan, which I'll check, though I'm pretty sure my mechanic mate would have thought about that. I assume they can jam in the engaged position, and overcool?

I think the radiator blocking idea was born of the fact that these cars were, I assume, designed for frigid climates, though they work fine elsewhere, too. I've read a few items where back in the day when they were fairly new, people in northern Europe were advised to do some radiator blocking in winter. My mechanic is an old school Scotsman, and he reckoned that the practice was pretty common over here for many cars in winter too.

I do wonder, though, whether the temperature gauge is just reading low. I seem to now recall somebody on this forum (with a different model) having a thread about trying to get his gauge to read properly.

Maybe I should just get a correct temperature check, and if it's OK, learn to live with the gauge.