Was running at near wide open throttle today for about 12 miles headed to a wreck noticed what I thought was smoke in rear view mirror , then volts dropping due to wet belt and temp about 275 , so I pulled over and found top elbow gone completely , had it towed and fixed it for under 5 bucks.

All bolts were tight , I have 2 guesses as to what happened since I replaced both of them a year ago.

1. thermostat stuck built up to much pressure and it exploded ?

2. thermostat came apart and needle in thermo went thru intake and hit it busting it from the inside ?

Car is now operating at 165 degrees instead of the usual 200 .

It could have been numerous events that caused this to happen. I think this is the second case I have seen where it removed itself from the engine, but they are known to leak pretty bad over time. I'm going to say it was due to bad design by Dorman, higher than normal RPM ranges which = higher coolant temp/flow rate that made the elbow exlpode. Never heard of a t-stat exploding and sending shrapnel through the engine. Plus, most of it wouldn't get through the radiator.

Replace the t-stat. And I hope you replaced your coolant elbow with the upgraded aluminum elbows??

If shrapnel from the t-stat made it to the elbow I think your water pump would be gone to. But it'* very unlikely that shrapnel made it this far. I just replaced the t-stat in my dodge minivan. The old one broke into 7 individual little pieces. They all just kinda sat in the housing and just needed to be fished out.

Before I am harassed for owning a Dodge I just want to add that I got the car for free. Just needed to be resurrected from the dead. New t-stat, battery, valve covers, front sneakers, brakes, instrument cluster lights, radiator and some other cosmetic things that I couldn't stand.

All which I did myself (minus the tires) for next to nothing thanks to JY'* and advanced auto promo codes

Owning a Dodge is like riding a Moped ... fun to do but you don't want your friends to see you doing it.

Lol so true. Luckily it'* the wife car.