Are you still "overheating"?

You reported it to Tom ??? Lighten up Francis

so

So I called Flowkool and talked to a female and passed along to a male. Told them both at cold start and gauge at zero, the gauge would climb in temp as the car warmed up.(normal) The gauge would run to about 192 then settle back at 189 and then stay steady at 192 regardless of sitting or running down the highway. (about 74 degree's outside temp) This caught My attention as the old pump and stat would run up to 190 and then settle back to 160 and then again raise to about 175 when cruising and would climb to over 200 if stuck in traffic for a time. The gauge would drop back to 175 after traveling a few hundred yards. . I asked flowkool about this and both people stated VERY FIRMLY that I have a bad temp gauge. [censored]. The temp reading on the gauge actually are similar to me as a new car as when driving My 2018 Ram the gauge goes to 220 and stays there regardless of temp or if I'm towing a loaded one car trailer.

Original stat is a 180 milodon. I bought the 180 flowkool to keep the setup all Flowkool. I'm going to go to the milodon and see what happens. I'm not very happy with the "experts" at flowkool.

One question I got from the male was..."the gauge must be bad as it reads 192 at start" How the heck did he get that ?

if i missed this at the start, please forgive me. [just an old man wondering through the cobwebs of my mind........ good title for a movie or a song, eh ? ]
did you try a different brand gauge and it's corresponding sending unit ? [i know you tried a different sending unit with your existing gauge]
did you try a known good mechanical gauge ? [if there is a place to install it.]
how about using an infrared heat gun to check the top and bottom of the radiator, as well as the heater hoses, to get some idea of how hot the engine is actually getting ?

so

Every thermostat I've ever tested (that would be several), there is almost always vary a few degrees from one stat to another of the same brand and temp. Mass production causes that. Could be as much as 5 degrees difference between two thermostats of the same degree from the same company.

That said, different thermostat makers have differing opinion on what a 180 stat should operate at. Some believe the stat should be wide open at 180, but others believe they should start to open at 180. It should be pretty obvious the actual operating temp is going to be different between those two beliefs.

Gauges and sending units fall into the same pit. Mass production has allowable variations. Then add that some gauge manufactures have less concern about quality controls in both the gauge accuracy and the sending unit accuracy and then you get the market we have today. Unless you have very expensive, liquid fill, certified gauges, and sending units, I have serious doubts your gauge really has the ability to accurately determine a coolant temp difference of a couple degrees one way or the other. It may consistently give you the same numbers, but its anyone's guess if that number is dead accurate.

The car is either overheating or its not. Usually if its overheating, everyone knows. Its puking antifreeze, making funky noises, and everything is hot. Even if its not overheating, you may not like the numbers your gauge shows. That can usually be adjusted to some degree using various methods, but don't let your panties get into a bunch over a few degrees difference between two different thermostats of even the same brand. The purpose of a thermostat is to maintain a consistent running temp and eliminate the higher and lower temps, once the system has stabilized. If its doing that its functioning correctly. Then if running on the highway, or in stop and go traffic causes dramatically different experiences, fix them.

so

Maybe you should readjust your idea of normal.

Flow Kool doesn't make thermostats. They sell Rober Shaw thermostats. It sounds like it might be worthwhile to try a different stat to see if you can get the temp stabilized down to where you want it.

192 plus or minus is a good place to be, and if it's doing that during any activity you partake in, let it alone.
trying to get something to stay at 160 might be the racer's trick for every last hp, but will only lead to build ups of acids, water, and other things in the oil you do not want.
the heat is necessary to burn that stuff off and keep your engine healthy.
if it's not puking, steaming, snapping and cracking, or other overheating symptoms, you are golden.
at one time, i believed in the "keep it at 160" as well, but after almost 60 years of playing with engines, i now like higher temperatures, even on our typical stuff, and i don't get concerned until something gets to around 230ish for a bit.
even 200 or 205 in stop and go traffic doesn't bother me. if your cooling system is good, nothing to worry about.
i am on the higher end of the temperature scale than some are comfortable with, but after all these years, i have had few if any problems doing so.
just my life experience. your mileage will vary.

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so

X.

You

That was hardly confrontation. It was just a possible suggestion that normal may have changed with updated parts. Could be that the pump and stat are working more efficiently. Don't be so sensitive.

Mr Know it all grabbed my backpack.

lol

Interesting thing about those factory Mopar temp gauges (and add the oil pressure gauges as well) is that back in the early 60s, they seemed to be pretty accurate, but by the end of the 60s and into the early 70s, that accuracy went right out the window. Those nationally imposed emission standards of 1968 almost instantly required higher motor operating temps to meet them. That was about the point all the manufactures dumbed down the factory gauge accuracy. Too many people were complaining about the cars running hot, the easy fix for them was alter the temp gauge readings. The reason the higher operating temps are upon us is because of the ever increasing emission standards up to the point the operating temps started effecting the life of the motors. That was the point better designed motors became a reality, Those better designed motors started showing up about the 2000 model year vehicles. The current crop of new motors are design controlled by bean counters trying to save a few cents on everything they can. Save a nickel on every car you produce may not sound like much until you build a few million vehicles, that is a lot of nickels.

The old designed motors seldom reached 200 degrees, remember water that is not under pressure boils at 212 degrees, add cooling system pressure and that boiling point can get up near that 260 degree mark. Detroit started pressurizing the cooling systems in the late 1940s. Thank the old Ford flat head V8s for that. Any old motor built after about 67 has better materials to withstand the higher temps the manufacturers knew was coming. Unless the motors that are older then 67 have problems, it would be a challenge to get them up much over 200 degrees with a pressurized system. Those motors and cooling systems were designed to keep the motors cooler then anything built after 67 or so. Those high performance big block motors of the late 60s caused a lot of temporary challenges for the car companies, at a time they were trying to raise the coolant temps to meet emissions. Suddenly big motors with increasing power, put into smaller packages with air flow restrictions, hit them all at once. That pretty much describes the late 60s and early 70s.

so

"Correcto"
Folks will spent $hundreds on cooling system parts to fix heating issues,
But don't have, or use, an infrared temp gun.
Being so cheap these days, they should be as common as an adjustable wrench.
Best "tool" to have when questioning accuracy of gauge, digital or analog.