i got a new thermostat and will be replacing it tomorrow morning. Also i dont believe the fan clutch is bad but ill take a look, definitely there are no leaks in that area

 

Nope, I didn't. Ask yourself what the fan cools?

Radiator

What's in the radiator?

Coolant.

What controls the flow of coolant to said radiator?

Yep...the thermostat.

Forget the fan running full bore, you could put a radiator in a bucket of ice water and it wouldn't impact operating temp. That is the sole responsibility of the thermostat governing the flow to the radiator.

 

Most likely tstat, but possible bad ect. Tsat cant stick open any farther than it normally operates. Mine was closer to.normal operation than yours. Even when outside temp was 35 my coolant was 160-165f

 

Do you have the right mixture of coolant and water? Coolant is not actually cooling the engine. Without coolant the engine will not reach the normal operating temperature

 

So you're telling me that if there is a fan, regardless of the condition of the fan clutch, my temperature should always remain the same because it has a thermostat? Sorry Bud, that isn't how it works. You've obviously never had a defective fan clutch if you think it has nothing to do with the temperature of the coolant.

 

Beg to differ. Coolant main purpose is tone prevent water from freezing. I run absolutely 0 Coolant in my truck. I have straight distilled water and 2 bottles of water wetter. My truck runs @ 198 deg all the time. Regardless of outside temperature. That's with 2 5000cfm fans running all the time.

 

Nope, I never said "regardless of the condition of the fan clutch". I said "if it is frozen". You may want to reread my original post on the subject cause it looks like your a bit confused. If the fan clutch was frozen, meaning the fan was running non stop it would have no effect on the operating temp being low. I'll break it down a bit more for you.

The reason for a fan having a clutch is to reduce noise and parasitic drain (MPG's and HP) it's not there to regulate temp, just remove excess heat. The "excess" portion is strictly determined by the thermostat and how much coolant it allows to pass.

The only thing a fan can do that would effect temp is fail to operate and of course that would cause an overheat condition but that is not what you described. Somehow you believe that a fan running nonstop will somehow talk? the thermostat into opening up and staying open below it's preset threshold temp. Simply not possible Bud.

Google it if you still don't believe me (or the other guy that just tried to correct you) but I'm not trying to steer you wrong or get into a pissing contest. I just want to make sure you know what your talking about before posting bad info.

 

So i replaced the thermostat and it resolved the issue. The fan was in good shape and was not seized or anything. Upon visual inspection it didnt appear anything was out of the ordinary with the original thermostat other than that it was a motorcraft in which could have been the original... Maybe not at 223k but could have been. Thanks to all who contribute on here its much appreciated!!

 

I didn't post "bad info".

I've had two freeze up on my Mustang. As a result, the coolant coming into the engine was a lot cooler than it should have been. The gauge would dip every time the thermostat opened. I know exactly how it works, and I'm not trying to get in to a pissing contest. However, a stuck fan clutch WILL make the gauge fluctuate.

 

The OP didn't have a gauge fluctuate problem. He had a low operating temp. Bad info.