Another Cooling Problem - Yes I Searched!

[97SVT#777]

When I took the charger off I had to drain the coolant and put a thermostat in there. With the procharger I didn't run a thermostat. So I did everything stated in the many posts I searched. It runs up to the A in normal and stays there. The fan comes on. Here's the kicker - After I burped it one more time last night and took it for a spin I came back and checked the temp of the hoses with my hand. There are 3 hoses coming out of the thermo housing. One to the engine, one is the bypass to the coolant tubes, and one going to the radiator. The one going to the radiator was completely cold. All of the others were hot. So what does that mean? My thermo is bad? I put in a plain jane stock 192* because I couldn't find a 180*.

 

[b dub]

well, you can always test the thermo in a pot of hot water...

 

[97SVT#777]

I tested the thermostat in the pot and got mixed results. I don't have a thermometer to test the temp of the water so I don't know how accurate I was but, at my elevation and barometric pressure right now, water should boil at 211* F. I got the water to start throwing little bubbles up and the thermo just barely opened. Maybe an 1/8" is all it opened. I went ahead and ordered a hypertech 180* from autozone. The more I read the more I believe it to be the thermostat. I'm going to buy some water wetter and use it too when the thermostat comes in. Only good news is I now have distilled water to put back in there so I won't have to burp it as much.