If your car has a 195 degree thermostat what is the operating temperature?

Answer 1

If you have a front wheel drive you have an electric fan and a lot of those have a thermostat circuit to kick on at 225. If that is the case, you must use antifreeze because it has a higher boiling point. GM's are good at that. Your water temperature shouldn't effect the oil pressure enough to even notice. Unless you have a cracked head or blown head gasket in either case you would see antifreeze in your oil. It would be a milky looking solution in your oil and on your dipstick but if that is happening it won't run long befroe it spins your main and rod bearing because whater and antifreeze aren't friendly to bearings.

The 195 degrees refers to the temperature that the thermostat opens at. Engines are more efficient when warm so the thermostat keeps the coolant flow shut off between your radiator and engine block until the coolant in the block gets 195 degrees. The thermostat opens and allows the hot coolant to go to the radiator for cooling off. When the coolant temp in the block goes below 195 it closes again. When you have gotten the whole system above 195 degrees the thermostat remains open. It has no relation to what temperature your engine runs at, once the thermostat is open it is a function of ambient air temp, radiator efficiency, fan speed etc.

A thermostat will start to open at 8 -10 degrees before its stated temperature and be fully open at 195 degrees.