Toronado digital dash repaired!

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B1G-AL

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By Mr. Whizzard for $250 including shipping both ways...best price I could find after shopping around for a while! I'm sure I could have found someone to fix it cheaper locally at a TV repair shop or something but these guys guarantee it and were quick so I'm happy! Just re-installed the cluster tonight...it feels like such a luxury now to know how fast I'm going! Also can see now that I've already put 2000 miles on my Toronado since I bought it a little over a month ago...and that's between my multiple other vehicles too! I can never drive enough!

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I am just curious if you got a price quote from Specmo in Madison Heights, MI since I suggested them? They repaired my '95 Riv instrument cluster for $100. Thankfully the digital dash on my '88 Trofeo has not acted up. Now that your dash is working, you can perform many of the cool diagnostics that our cars were designed to do.

I just finished installing a thermostat as my car was running cold (135-140). The engineers could have given a better access for the removal of the bolt. Also, they only put a single bolt on one side, 2 bolts would have been better. I'e done a ton of mechanical work on this car with the most serious being the swap out of the entire Teves brake unit. I got one for $75 at a u-pull salvage yard. That was 2 years ago and so far it still working.

Good luck with your car. It's good to see people such as yourself taking proper care of the '86-89 Toros, the red hair bas.... of the bunch.
 
Dulas, my Toronado is an 89, the last year before the larger body.

Retroren I did not get a quote from them, I have horrible memory and honestly forgot all about them...too bad as I'm sure they would have saved me a buck or two. My Toronado runs a little on the cold side too, generally around 135-140. I do have a new thermostat from a huge parts lot I bought for $60 on CL but I'm wondering what the major benefit of the car running warmer would be? I've heard of changing a thermostat before for a car to run cooler but not to run warmer. My Toro has been a New England car all its life so I'm not surprised it runs so cool, although it has no noticeable effects on the way it runs. Cars are my hobby, I would feel guilty buying such a rare vehicle if I wasn't going to take care of it, even if its my new daily driver/beater!
 
I'm certainly not a qualified mechanic or engineer but here is what I know about automotive thermostats. Engines are designed to operate with a specific thermostat temperature, ours is 195 degrees. The car's computer adjusts the fuel and air mixture based on the temperature reading. If it is reading 135 degrees it thinks the engine is cold and burns a fuel rich blend. Having a properly working themostat will allow the car to warm up faster, get heat into the cabin faster and boost your gas mileage a little.
 
retroren said:
I'm certainly not a qualified mechanic or engineer but here is what I know about automotive thermostats. Engines are designed to operate with a specific thermostat temperature, ours is 195 degrees. The car's computer adjusts the fuel and air mixture based on the temperature reading. If it is reading 135 degrees it thinks the engine is cold and burns a fuel rich blend. Having a properly working themostat will allow the car to warm up faster, get heat into the cabin faster and boost your gas mileage a little.
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Makes sense to me and I'm certainly no master tech either. My biggest fear is the engine block splitting from it running too cold although I'm sure as long as the antifreeze level is normal that shouldn't happen. My new friend Jim who inspected my Toronado today said he's seen a few 3.8s crack from the engine freezing up so I'll probably throw in the new thermostat I got in my parts find on Craigslist since I've got nothing to lose!
 
Have you tested your anti-freeze to see how cold it can go. There are tools out there for that. If you know much about engines they designed this neat little plug (helps create the water jacket during the casting) called frost plugs that pop out when the antifreeze/water mix goes from liquid state to solid state. Kind of a saftey valve of some sorts for the engine. Just my two cents!
 
Oh yeah I went through Mr Wizard myself, he tested my dash cluster for my 1987 Toronado, told me it was fine and pointed me out to the Central Power Supply. He cleaned my bezel and fixed a couple of circuts for roughly 90 dollars. He stands behind his work. Once I replaced the CPS I had power and she lit up like a xmas tree.
 
My 88 Trofeo did that...turned out the freeze plug had a leak and the car was low on coolant. I've had freeze plugs rust out on two 1988 Olds with the 3800 V6.
 
Big-AL:

I would recommend changing the antifreeze so you know it is fresh and you can tailor the concentration to suite your climate needs. You've been investing a bit of money into your Toro and I would hate to see something bad happen. Also, I live in Michigan and it's been 5-10F degrees when I fire my Toro up in the morning. The heat that I have been getting since changing the thermostat a few weeks ago has been great. I heard it gets pretty cold where you live too!
 
retroren said:
Big-AL:

I would recommend changing the antifreeze so you know it is fresh and you can tailor the concentration to suite your climate needs. You've been investing a bit of money into your Toro and I would hate to see something bad happen. Also, I live in Michigan and it's been 5-10F degrees when I fire my Toro up in the morning. The heat that I have been getting since changing the thermostat a few weeks ago has been great. I heard it gets pretty cold where you live too!
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Don't worry I have changed the antifreeze and haven't had any issues...now the weather is warmer here so it hasn't had any problem getting up to normal temperature! It still runs a little on the cold side but again seems to me like a thermostat issue and honestly I'd rather have it running a little cold during the hot summers we have here!
 
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