I have a 2000 GMC Jimmy with about 75K miles on it, and it has never had any cooling work done on it. Still factory fluids and such, using DEX-COOL extended life fluid that should be good for 100K miles.
During the insane heatwave that started a few weeks ago in Alabama, I'm talking 108 on the thermometer, I noticed that when I was stopped in traffic, the temp gauge would get up to 3/4, and would then drop back to normal when I'm up to speed. I first attributed this to the outside temperature, especially over the hot pavement, but then I later noticed the temp climb to almost 3/4 when it was a bit cooler outside, and I was also moving at the time. A minute later, it dropped back down to the normal range on it's own, so I thought it must be a sticky thermostat. Replaced the thermostat this past weekend, and all looked well until the next day, until I was sitting in traffic in about 94F heat. The gauge didnt get as high as it had before, but it will sometimes bounce up to about 60% when I'm idling. Am I just scrutinizing the temps too much now, and noticing normal behavior in the temps, or should a car/truck never get out of it's ideal operating temperature during normal operation?
During the insane heatwave that started a few weeks ago in Alabama, I'm talking 108 on the thermometer, I noticed that when I was stopped in traffic, the temp gauge would get up to 3/4, and would then drop back to normal when I'm up to speed. I first attributed this to the outside temperature, especially over the hot pavement, but then I later noticed the temp climb to almost 3/4 when it was a bit cooler outside, and I was also moving at the time. A minute later, it dropped back down to the normal range on it's own, so I thought it must be a sticky thermostat. Replaced the thermostat this past weekend, and all looked well until the next day, until I was sitting in traffic in about 94F heat. The gauge didnt get as high as it had before, but it will sometimes bounce up to about 60% when I'm idling. Am I just scrutinizing the temps too much now, and noticing normal behavior in the temps, or should a car/truck never get out of it's ideal operating temperature during normal operation?
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