M1097R1 Running Cold?

[Assault King]

Morning folks,
I have a M1097R1 with the NA 6.5 and 3 speed trans. During the summer the truck's temperatures were textbook. Winter has rolled around and I think I might have a problem. In my routine, I wake up, start it, it might idle for 5-8 minutes then I drive off. My work is 10 miles away and it barely hits 150° by the time I'm in the parking lot but the blower is shooting out warmer air.
Had a busy day yesterday and was driving all over the place, it would get up to 180 but would practically drop at idle for a bit. Fan hasn't kicked on at all, Upper radiator hose is hot, coolant topped off.. Temperature outside is around 20° F. My work has a laser thermometer and I could use it on the casting I guess if needed while driving on lunch.
Do I have a thermostat sticking, or a cold truck? Would a plastic board on the grille help? Thanks

 

[Mullaney]

Morning folks,
I have a M1097R1 with the NA 6.5 and 3 speed trans. During the summer the truck's temperatures were textbook. Winter has rolled around and I think I might have a problem. In my routine, I wake up, start it, it might idle for 5-8 minutes then I drive off. My work is 10 miles away and it barely hits 150° by the time I'm in the parking lot but the blower is shooting out warmer air.
Had a busy day yesterday and was driving all over the place, it would get up to 180 but would practically drop at idle for a bit. Fan hasn't kicked on at all, Upper radiator hose is hot, coolant topped off.. Temperature outside is around 20° F. My work has a laser thermometer and I could use it on the casting I guess if needed while driving on lunch.
Do I have a thermostat sticking, or a cold truck? Would a plastic board on the grille help? Thanks

.
Sure... A plastic piece of an old Political Yard Sign will tell you pretty quickly if it improves your problem.

 

[Assault King]

.
Sure... A plastic piece of an old Political Yard Sign will tell you pretty quickly if it improves your problem.

Thank you for the input, I have some board that I use for custom chip/splash guards at work to ziptie on there. My only worry is, will the transmission cooler still get enough airflow to chill? I'm not familiar with the 3l80

 

[Mullaney]

Thank you for the input, I have some board that I use for custom chip/splash guards at work to ziptie on there. My only worry is, will the transmission cooler still get enough airflow to chill? I'm not familiar with the 3l80

.
Pretty sure that won't be a problem. The transmission cooler is way over-engineered.