Thermostat replacement.

[ericsmith32]

If anyone is using a Murray from OReilly's I'd change it! They're supposed to be better now but being the same manufacture that's hard to believe. Put 5 of those in a Festiva years ago. A friend that even worked at OReilly's said that had pallets of those being returned. We got a Stant from Autozone and it's been in there ever since. I put the dual-stage in ours now.. I think my auto has a problem it likes to get too hot. Although it hasn't blown up yet probably just the gauge.

[Bert]

Who's going to be first to do a heater core swap?

That is a thread I would subscribe to although any day now I will be retiring the Festys I have from being DDs during the road salt (and also the coldest) months. I have yet to disassemble a heater box to see if a larger or better core could be adapted, and somehow I don't think this would merely entail 10 minutes work in order to re-engineer.
The fact that I, and and many others in this forum, have managed to enjoy a disposable car (aren't all econoboxes supposed to fall apart right after the warranty expires, just like all other modern appliances (fridge, stove, dishwasher, lawnmower etc)) for 20 years in a hostile (salt!!) environment is already a testament to how well these cars were built by Kia.

[bravekozak]

I have noticed that Australian B5 intake manifold gaskets have a front heater port block off. Coolant is forced to the rear of the block rather than splitting paths and having half flow under the plenum chamber of the intake. I don't think this would make much difference but it is an option to concentrate the heat. I do not believe any changes can be made to the size of the heater core.

[crazyrog17]

Oh, anything can happen. We could hook up the radiator (with electric fan) inside the car. No doubt it'd get toasty then.

[Movin]

I have one for a suburban that has been in there for 3 years now. I would not recommend that though I had to cut both ends out to fit it in there. I also had to
redo a panel that guides air inside. Too much glue, it works really well with a good thermostat. It weighs almost as much as my radiator. I will probably go back to stock size or close if this one fails.

[rmoltis]

Newer hybrid cars have coolant lines running to attached points on the exhaust. Made of metal to transfer heat. With an actuator that let's coolant flow to help keep coolant up to temperature for higher engine operation efficiency. And help with faster warmups.

Has anyone thought of doing something like this?? I understand you couldn't have an actuator controlled by the engine computer to maintain coolant temperature unless you had an aftermarket ecu with the ability to operate said actuator under set circumstances.

The second point of what would need to be done is to find out where you could attach this coolant line to the existing setup that would induce flow to the said actuator or flow point. Where if it was on or off coolant could still flow. You could even wire an electric switch to run this actuator.

Because in summer you wouldn't want the coolant staying super hot all the time so you wouldn't want constant flow. Or if you did have constant flow and it stayed too warm I guess you could get a lower temperature thermostat to help combat this problem.

This is something I've been considering for quite some time because it could be a realistic way to solve our heat problems and it would also give increased engine efficiency relating to better gas mileage. Even if it was just running coolant line to a metal pipe attached and welded to a piece of metal that extended somewhere between 1"-3" in distance from the exhaust maybe more. So that heat would transfer through the arm without adding too much heat to the lines. The distance of said arm would have to be determined first hand as to determine the relative length that would transfer the correct amount of heat with the balanced amount of cooling from the heat not fully transferring to the pipe through the arm. Because let's face it exhaust temps get much higher than coolant temps.

I have always pondered this idea and would like to see it implemented by someone here with the correct tools do do so. Just make sure to make the system removeable incase you need to replace or remove exhaust components. Which in said case you could just reattach.

What do you guys think of this idea??

[nitrofarm]

I went and picked t-stat part #41492 up from O'Reilly's just now, along with a ~$22 5 qt. oil + filter deal (filling the rebate out tonight) for a ten dollar gift card.

When I pick up my Motorcraft t-stats from Ricart later this week, I'll compare them side by side to see if I can tell any visual quality differences.

Karl

Karl have you had any issue's?

I Literally JUST came back from a run to get parts. I got the same thermostat + gasket that you guys posted. Plus I went and got some cascade and some name brand coolant/ antifreeze. I held off on the oil. I used the part number that was posted here. It IS the mazda 323 thermo. Im eating sushi right now, while the car is draining. Ill post results in about an HR. Oh Safetyguy: Thanks for linking me to your thread with the thermostat procedure. Again, I am over thinking things waaaay to much..

Milton have you had any issue's?

If anyone is using a Murray from OReilly's I'd change it! They're supposed to be better now but being the same manufacture that's hard to believe. Put 5 of those in a Festiva years ago. A friend that even worked at OReilly's said that had pallets of those being returned. We got a Stant from Autozone and it's been in there ever since. I put the dual-stage in ours now.. I think my auto has a problem it likes to get too hot. Although it hasn't blown up yet probably just the gauge.

LOL- ericsmith where were you a month ago ? Is the STANT a dual elemant? If it is please post the PN. Thanks-

[Aspire SVT]

Thermostat replacement.

I have actually considered this idea for a quite sometime. I had considered running a tube inside down the center portion of a section of exhaust pipe to help recover some of the lost heat energy. I have not pursued the concept but I would consider it to be quite doable and it could be plumbed in easily to the heater core inlet hose with some brass and you could even make a bypass section with a ball valve on it to redirect the flow for warm weather usage.

[ericsmith32]

LOL- ericsmith where were you a month ago ? Is the STANT a dual elemant? If it is please post the PN. Thanks-

Just a single. But it's been in place for over 60k and it seems to do as well as the motorcraft dual stages!

[rmoltis]

I think pursuing this would be a good idea. But if you had the valve idea setup and you had that seperate line cut off for long periods of time. The coolant in the seperate line would get much to hot. Or possibly burst the line with nowhere to vent. Unless your suggesting the ball valve being where the inlet comes in but both pipes after the ball valve being tied into each other. That way pressure doesn't build but induces current flow.

The most reliable setup would be one that was plumbed inline with constant flow. And if it got too warm a lower temp thermostat would help us combat this stuff. The prius has 2 seperate motors that move the extra coolant lines and they have a coolant storage tank that retains heat overnight. But I'm sure we could simplify a design for our setup.

[nitrofarm]

Just a single. But it's been in place for over 60k and it seems to do as well as the motorcraft dual stages!

I cant run a single here in WI.,to cold I guess. I had zero heat with a single STANT. Wouldnt melt the ice on the window. I know you guys get cold weather in KC. But last week we were single digits for a couple days.

I think pursuing this would be a good idea. But if you had the valve idea setup and you had that seperate line cut off for long periods of time. The coolant in the seperate line would get much to hot. Or possibly burst the line with nowhere to vent. Unless your suggesting the ball valve being where the inlet comes in but both pipes after the ball valve being tied into each other. That way pressure doesn't build but induces current flow.

The most reliable setup would be one that was plumbed inline with constant flow. And if it got too warm a lower temp thermostat would help us combat this stuff. The prius has 2 seperate motors that move the extra coolant lines and they have a coolant storage tank that retains heat overnight. But I'm sure we could simplify a design for our setup.

Not to spoil your guys fun, but this is a "Thermostate Replacemant" thread. People are going to reasearch this topic in the years to come.So can we please stay on topic.Thx-