77 308GTB running cool (temp wise)

seems normal to me. my black 77 GTB runs cooler than my red 77GTB did. i only have one fan working right now on the black car, but all the foam is there and the coolant is new. not sure why the right fan wont come on, i do have the a/c stuff out for when i have time to redo it... my black gtb runs around 180 or so, and will creep up to 195 in traffic. running it hard doesnt seem to make it run hotter.

 

308 cooling seems to be marginal in many cases but the variance you describes has the hallmarks of an old & weak Thermostat. 308s with correctly operating Stats and working waterpumps & radiators seem to run fairly solidly around 190 from what I can gather.

Coincidentally my 328 runs at the same temp (165-170) - but it doesn't vary much regardless of how hard its pushed (stat replaced last year). The only time it will start to climb is when sitting in traffic.

So in summary from what you describe I think your Stat is indeed not closing - or to be more accurate opening more quickly & further than it should. However, the marginal nature of the 308 cooling system means the thing is actually running at acceptable temperatures & on that basis I wouldn't bother to change it if it were mine. I think the only thing you will see is that it takes longer to reach 165/170 than it would with a working stat. With the 328 a non working stat would see temps of around 140 which is too cold IMO & therefore you'd change it (as I did)

I.

 

My 77 always runs at 170 water temp and 170-180 oil temp. Don't have any problems and water temp. comes up fairly quickly so I don't think its a bad stat. It will sometimes go to 195 during a hot day 95+* but when the fans kick in you can see the temp gage go down to the 1st hash mark (17*). And with the AC on and 1 fan blowing it tries to get to 195 but doesn't quite get there. Also I don't think a 19 qt. cooling system in a 3 liter motor is a marginal design. Rad. is about the same surface area as my old 63 vette with a 327 CID motor and that never overheats and it doesn't have an oil rad. So you are running to the design of the system but what is confusing is that this only started happening recently. This makes me suspecious. Also as a double check look at the oil temp. gage and if it is running at the 180* mark then you are alright. If its running at 210* on oil temp then your water temp gage is off.

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=136041375&postcount=13

That said there do seem to be a lot of variances with 308s in terms of how the cooling system performs.

However, a car that has at least *some* spare cooling capacity and a functioning thermostat will run at a pretty much constant temperature, whatever the weather, whatever the driving conditions (except when sitting stationary when any car will heat up). A car who's water temperature climbs on hotter days or when its driven a bit harder can only be described as having a "marginal" cooling system I think.

There may well be 19L of coolant in a 308 (there's 22 in a 328 IIRC) but there's also just a lot of pipework between the front & rear of the car. The volume of water that's either in the engine block or in the radiator isn't 19L.

I.

 

I rather have this problem of ''Running Cool'' than Running Hot any day if I was to be given a choice.

 

I had a similar problem with my '84 Mondial QV (Euro) ... running cold. Couldn't pass our state's exhaust emission test, couldn't get heat out of the heater, etc.

Installed a new thermostat. Didn't help.

Spoke to a Ferrari mechanic. He said there were "air-bubbles" in the cooling system.

So, I bled the system! Now it works fine: passed the emission test, heater works fine, runs a lot smoother.

Good luck!