Radiator broken?
 

Hi everyone,

i have a ´89 5.7L G20 sportsvan. I only get about 11 miles per gallon. Is that way off of what it should be?

The engine temperature needle goes up only to about one quarter of the indicator. So I figured the temperature is too low. Do you think there might be a problem with the radiator and that´s why I get so little miles per gallon?

Thanks in advance,

Stefan

PS: Sorry for the English, I am German...

no, running cool isnt a bad thing with a chevy, it may just need a tune-up, but remember it is basicaly a brick and isnt very aerodynamic at all, my dad had a family van on propane, and if there was a head wind we couldnt do highway speed, and i remember going up the coquihalla (a BC mountain highway) at 20 km an hour lol, try the tune-up and see where it takes you

If you really want to know how the temp is you will need a real aftermarket gauge. Does the heater get good and hot? If it is running too cool you will lose MPG. You will also produce more emissions and the engine will have increased wear.

remember it is an 89, still had siamesd exh ports, they get hot fast, and when they do , hello valve guides i prefer to have my truck running cool, cuz on hills when towing it will climb and the "buffer" zone is nice to have, a quarter of the indicator is pretty vague though, what temp is a quarter of the guage?

Exactly, most factory gauges are nothing but glorified idiot lights. They might stay in the same position from 160 to 225, then jump up to "HOT" at 230 or more. Aftermarket gauges are not hard to install and cheap especially compared to engine damage.

I must say however that the temp gauge in my one ton is great, it has temp markings with 5 degree increments.