Impeller question

[JHutch]

While dealing with what I thought was a thermostat issue I decided to change my impeller as well. It was clearly bad missing some chunks but nothing really large.

I cleared any out of the transmission cooler screen. The temp is now at 160 but I still get an occasional fluctuation that I didn’t have before. Anywhere else I should look for blockage? Could it also be my circulating pump?

[JHutch]

Any other place to look for blockage other than the transmission cooler screen?

[jph3]

What about the paddle wheel? It’s what reads the water flow and could have something caught in it?

[gregski]

In my experience, the transmission cooler screen has always caught any bits. I always have a little bit of fluctuation. I notice more fluctuation at first, like the thermostat doesn't open right away so it gets just a bit warmer than normal, then it opens too much and is cooler than normal, then it eventually settles to something more "normal". Since you changed the thermostat, you could just be seeing a difference there. The engine is safe (but not tuned to run) at much warmer temps; if you get above boiling point then you won't have water to cool properly and you'll quickly have a bigger problem. So as long as your temps stay below 210 or so, you're safe. When I see fluctuations between 160-185, I don't worry a bit about it.