Runs Cool No Matter What

He said he blocked off "the one that goes from the intake for whatever reason that is". Doesn't the intake sensor need that line (coolant flow) to read temp? Otherwise, the coolant just sits there in the intake.

Yes that will be a problem as well.

Not sure if there's a misunderstanding about temp sensors in my application, I know the thunderbird probably had umpteen of em but for my application I run only one, I believe it's just called the ECT sensor, it's on the intake manifold in between the injectors, it tells my computer the coolant temp and that's all I need. I have the rad fan bolted to the water pump and I know that would slow down the warm up process but I actually ran an electric fan at some point and the car still wouldn't come up to temp other than sitting idling for more than like 20 minutes, either way, the stock pinto motor ran this way and it didn't have any issues coming up to temp. My leading theory right now is that perhaps the Tbird stat housing wasn't designed for the thermostat that I've used even though it fits perfectly circumference wise and doesn't seal properly because the flange width is probably way off, since I'm stubborn on making a generic one work and have had so much bad luck with the OEM design, my last ditch effort is to put two o rings on, one between the housing and the stat, and one between the motor and the stat, all with RTV to hold it in place while I bolt it down to compress the oring and seal the whole thing. Sort of a makeshift seal because I can't find a stat with the correct dimensions that comes with a seal already. If that doesn't work maybe down the line I'll try the OEM design stat again but I just don't see it working from my past experience, I once bolted the housing up with the OEM one in and poured coolant down the neck and just watched the coolant drain into the motor immediately, didn't really care much back then lol.


VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
I really don't want to seem ungrateful for the advice and suggestions, in fact I really appreciate all of it, and have been thinking more about the system with you guys' replies in mind. Thank you all  I'll report back with my findings tomorrow.

Welp that was dumb, broke my thermostat housing, thought the o rings would be weaker and conform better but nope, it's fine, 20 bucks at Autozone, I guess my very last ditch effort is the oem design again even though I and so many others have had horrible experiences with it, the one thing I do know is I narrowed it down to my theory being correct, basically the only possibility of why it's not warming up, coolant is slipping between gaps around the thermostat that's in it. Gonna go with the oem design rlike vegas_ss suggested, also he said Motorcraft but I can't find any Motorcraft units still around for sale, so I'll get a well rated Autozone one. I'll keep you guys updated.

Alright, OEM stat, same exact thing, I've just come to believe that my setup is too far from what a stock Tbird is, therefore this will not work. I've been thinking about this like a normal car, with a complete cooling system where the coolant has to travel quite a lot, through the heater and any other accessories, in this case the Tbird had an oil cooler and a turbo cooler, and I think that the turbo cooler definitely added a lot of heat to the system, so maybe they adjusted the tune and the timing to account for that, so without those, the tune still thinks they are there and that I have a complete cooling system. Also, small radiator compared to stock, always cooled by the fan, it just won't get enough heat that way, I believe that there is just not enough coolant or "load' for lack of a better term, in the system for the proper dynamic to be at play, so instead the coolant is still cooled even though it may not be flowing, and just by the transfer of temperature of coolant to coolant, all of it stays cool all the time. Basically all it looks like I can do is switch to an electric fan again some time in the future, and add more "load", I am planning to get a PiMP and that might give me a lot more control over things, I might some day replace the heater core in behind the dash and route it up so it actually works, just wished I could've at least made some kind of progress with all this work. I appreciate all the advice and everything anyway guys.

Yesterday it was 65 out, I cold started and drove for 30 minutes, with 3-4 traffic light stops, 3-4 times playing in boost, and mostly driving 50mph. After 30 minutes, I was at 171 degrees while driving. My cooling fan doesn't even come on until 190 so it was cooling with just airflow (and with a FMIC in front of the rad). All of the plumbing is OEM and I'm running a 180 thermostat (I incorrectly said 185 before).

Yesterday it was 65 out, I cold started and drove for 30 minutes, with 3-4 traffic light stops, 3-4 times playing in boost, and mostly driving 50mph. After 30 minutes, I was at 171 degrees while driving. My cooling fan doesn't even come on until 190 so it was cooling with just airflow (and with a FMIC in front of the rad). All of the plumbing is OEM and I'm running a 180 thermostat (I incorrectly said 185 before).

Maybe these cars just run cold, I just find it so crazy because reading through other forums for different cars people talked about how running cold was bad for your engine and also robbing you of power, fuel economy, etc, but most people either don’t care or don’t even know because the stock temp gauges for these cars were so inaccurate. Since I have this engine in a different car that didn’t come with a temp gauge I only know because I have an aftermarket one, but my 87 5.0 has one of these bad temp gauges, it actually does get up to temp according to my thermometer but it only gets above the N in NORMAL lol.

Yesterday it was 65 out, I cold started and drove for 30 minutes, with 3-4 traffic light stops, 3-4 times playing in boost, and mostly driving 50mph. After 30 minutes, I was at 171 degrees while driving. My cooling fan doesn't even come on until 190 so it was cooling with just airflow (and with a FMIC in front of the rad). All of the plumbing is OEM and I'm running a 180 thermostat (I incorrectly said 185 before).

Maybe these cars just run cold, I just find it so crazy because reading through other forums for different cars people talked about how running cold was bad for your engine and also robbing you of power, fuel economy, etc, but most people either don’t care or don’t even know because the stock temp gauges for these cars were so inaccurate. Since I have this engine in a different car that didn’t come with a temp gauge I only know because I have an aftermarket one, but my 87 5.0 has one of these bad temp gauges, it actually does get up to temp according to my thermometer but it only gets above the N in NORMAL lol.

Consider the “permanent” thermostat gasket. Much easier to install—no sealant needed. Discussed Here (#2).

Advance Auto part #35390 T—third one. Others have it as well.

There's some long discussions on TurboFord about thermostats for these engines. These Lima's do run cool but the temperature gauge is not very accurate.

The stock temperature thermostat is around 192°. The Stant 45820 SuperStat 192 is the closest to OEM that I found and has been working very well in my car.

My TC was slow to warm up and ran cool (too cool, IMO) for years with several different aftermarket (supposedly) 192F thermostats. Finally got a 192 F Motorcraft thermostat. Problem solved.

My TC was slow to warm up and ran cool (too cool, IMO) for years with several different aftermarket (supposedly) 192F thermostats.  Finally got a 192 F Motorcraft thermostat. Problem solved.

Hi Jeff, where did you buy that thermostat? I've scoured for a Motorcraft and I can't find anything other than Motorad, Gates, and Duralast.