Temps are fine when moving. At stoplight, temp gauge has been inching up. Scan tool says 200f at idle. Rises to 220 in 5 min. Fans come on. Temp rises to 230-235. Then drops down to 200 in a few minutes. 235 seems high. I have an equinox also with same motor.
Ok put scan tool on equinox. Started at 200 and fans were off. Took at least 10 min to climb to 220 and then fans came on. Temp went down to 200 within 2-3 min. I shutoff motor at 200. Guy at store said he thinks it is sticky thermostat. Thermostat is new. He asked if motor ever got hot with old stuck open thermostat. Answer is no. He says try it with no thermostat and see if it hits 230. But I don’t think it will ever get that hot.
So, equinox went from 200-220. Never came close to 230
That doesn’t mean it’s working correctly . . . I’ve run into bad new thermostats before, which actually CAUSE the engine to run hot, versus the old thermostat which was just changed out because it was very old
Picked up a new one today. Will see what it does tomorrow
Different brand?
Uh no. New one was duralast std. newest one is duralast gold. Yep AZ stuff.
The boiling point of coolant at 15 psi is 268. It would be interesting but more work to swap the thermostats between the two cars.
Make sure you got the correct temp. thermostat
I did see the temp gauge move up slightly on the equinox after 20 min idle so it does move. Equinox does 200-220 temp swing. Torrent does 200-235 temp swing. But it does go back down to 200. I have never seen the temp gauge really move high on the equinox in daily driving. Seeing it jump on the torrent is unsettling. Since I have done heads on 4 equinoxes.
Idling, this sounds completely normal to me. There’s no air movement to cool it so it heats up to fan trip point. Fans are able to bring temp back down to normal range. What’s the problem? No amount of thermostat cycling alone can keep temp down if it’s not being dissipated with airflow through rad…
This is more concerning, if you’re taking repair advice from parts store people.
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Temp gauge sits below 1/2 mark. Having it Go over 1/2 is not what I want. It never does that on equinox. I don’t think it is supposed to do that on the torrent unless the coolant temp is higher then normal operation. The 2 suvs are identical. Same motor. Almost identical gauge layout. The guy I talked to at store said he had gone thru 3 thermostats to get one that seemed to operate normally.
That’s what happens when you use autozone store brand parts . . .
their store brand parts are so junky and unreliable, that after the 2nd or 3rd time, you start second guessing your diagnosis . . . when the real problem was the junky autozone store brand part all along
I’ve seen that scenario play out MANY times
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Ok, where do I get a quality thermostat for my GM?
I sure wouldn’t trust an autozone store brand thermostat
I’d go with a Stant . . . before I used a autozone store brand thermostat
I’m obviously jaded against duralast . . . or whatever they’re called
Both from personal experience, and seeing plenty of other guys get screwed with bad duralast parts over the years
I would feel okay using a duralast filter or wiper blades, but other things . . . no way. certainly not anything remotely electrical
There should be a few parts stores around you that can get AC Delco and/or GM parts . . . they’re often not the same part number . . . or Stant
It doesn’t matter where the gauge needle is if the temp is 200 on a 195 thermostat. Well within expected tolerance.
The bumping up to 235 was what I did not like. Drove it today. Came home and idled in driveway. Fans were off at first. After several min the fans kicked on and I saw temp gauge was at 1/2. Not over like yesterday. Then needle dropped down to normal. So, new thermostat- no 235 zone? I don’t have scan tool today. Just going by dash needle.