Well on the way home from work today noticed that the temp gauge was at 200 steady the whole drive home. Usually when the thermostat opens it will drop down a few degrees and stay steady. So got home today and did some looking and feeling in the engine bay. The part of the tube right by the thermostat was warm but not hot and then going further down that tube to the radiator was cold. Also the over flow tank was cold. My guess is the thermostat isn't opening much if it all. Does this sound like the problem to anyone else?

Nope, colder climates, your engine isn't getting hot enough really to open the thermostat that much. Your temp is right about where it should be.

I was thinking that as well, but I checked my file from a few years ago got a 180 therm. So it should be opening then at 180 not 195 right?

Yea, unless you have the typical inaccurate temp gauge. Only way to know is to hook up a scantool that does live data scanning.

I'll keep an eye on it. If I'm on a longer drive and my temp stays right at 200 something is up. If the thermostat is stuck closed it will eventually rise above 200 and the coolant tubes will be how I first described them right?

Well it'* gotta be the thermostat about a block before work it jumped to 225. Went and checked the tubes. Tube was cold from the radiator almost all the way to the t stat. That'* gotta be because the t stat isn't opening.

Well, what'* weird is, your temp is consistently 200, which would indicate that you have a 195 T-stat.

One other scenario would be, your T-stat isn't opening up all the way allowing your engine to get warmer than usual, but not to the point of over temping.

Just for giggles, If your T-stat is really a 180, I suggest replacing it with a 195 for the winter. Last year with my 97 Bonneville, I have a 180 in it and there were times the outside temp got into the -'* and my car just wouldn't warm up.

I was typing the above response right after you posted.

To sum it up, replace it with a 195 for the winter.

Haha no prob thanks for the heads up mike. This seems a pretty simple fix. Good idea on the 195 since in the Midwest we r living in a ice age already. Is there any suggestions on how to make sure all your air bubbles are out? My first guess would be the bleeder valve.

If your careful, your only going to create a bubble in the upper hose when you remove it. Then carefully remove the t-stat housing, replace the t-stat, reinstall everything, remove the radiator cap, top off, start car, allow it to get to operating temp(which might take a awhile) and re-top off. As long as you are not taking coolant below the top of the block, pockets won't occur.