My Envoy was getting bad mileage, I drive mostly short city trips so that doesn't help. I was getting less then 200 miles a tank, I know it wont get a lot better for my driving but looked into it.
From research I had the stuck thermostat issue going on, It would take forever to warm up and not get to optimal temp. It would mostly be between 155-170 and never seen it over 190. Reading up more it seems to be a very common and problematic issue and read that some have issues again within a couple years or less of replacing one. I don't mind making repairs once but don't fancy repeating it unnecessarily... 8^(
Which brings up to project thermostat. Since it was stuck open(or too quick to open) I thought to try an inline thermostat, easy to get to and easy to find a replacement if ever on the road and needed to replace it. It takes 10-15 mins to change with just a screw driver and an allen wrench and easy to catch and recover the coolant. It uses a very common generic old school Chevy thermostat that cost ~$5 and will be inexpensive to try different temps to find an optimal temp for efficiency. If it works out well I will pull the old original and gut it or replace with a new one if not.
I was able to use the original top hose and cut the need angled sections to fit it nicely between the engine and radiator. It is mounted at a slight upward angle so any air will make it to the top radiator tank. I drilled a small 3mm hole for bleeding any air and to allow a small bit of circulation to allow the thermostat to work correctly being away from the engine.
So far it is working well and temps are within the range expected, It came with a 180 and ran that for PoC until I got a couple new ones. I am currently running a 195 and have a 205 to try at some point to see what effect it will have on efficiency. With the 195 and a cold start it will get about 204-206 and open, after the first cycle and when warm it will maintain 198 at idle, 197 light cruise and about 200 under a load. I need to find a local hill to get a bit more load on it to see how it does.
I recently got a ScanGauge and the before and after shows that it seems to have helped the mileage, I need to get a couple tanks thru it to get it calibrated to get accurate mileage readings from it.
Looks right at home 8^)
From research I had the stuck thermostat issue going on, It would take forever to warm up and not get to optimal temp. It would mostly be between 155-170 and never seen it over 190. Reading up more it seems to be a very common and problematic issue and read that some have issues again within a couple years or less of replacing one. I don't mind making repairs once but don't fancy repeating it unnecessarily... 8^(
Which brings up to project thermostat. Since it was stuck open(or too quick to open) I thought to try an inline thermostat, easy to get to and easy to find a replacement if ever on the road and needed to replace it. It takes 10-15 mins to change with just a screw driver and an allen wrench and easy to catch and recover the coolant. It uses a very common generic old school Chevy thermostat that cost ~$5 and will be inexpensive to try different temps to find an optimal temp for efficiency. If it works out well I will pull the old original and gut it or replace with a new one if not.
I was able to use the original top hose and cut the need angled sections to fit it nicely between the engine and radiator. It is mounted at a slight upward angle so any air will make it to the top radiator tank. I drilled a small 3mm hole for bleeding any air and to allow a small bit of circulation to allow the thermostat to work correctly being away from the engine.
So far it is working well and temps are within the range expected, It came with a 180 and ran that for PoC until I got a couple new ones. I am currently running a 195 and have a 205 to try at some point to see what effect it will have on efficiency. With the 195 and a cold start it will get about 204-206 and open, after the first cycle and when warm it will maintain 198 at idle, 197 light cruise and about 200 under a load. I need to find a local hill to get a bit more load on it to see how it does.
I recently got a ScanGauge and the before and after shows that it seems to have helped the mileage, I need to get a couple tanks thru it to get it calibrated to get accurate mileage readings from it.
Looks right at home 8^)