Cannot get engine up to temperature

I have two pre'95 standard transmission Geo's. When the temperature drops below 0 degrees F, I cannot get either one of these engines up to temp. I have installed new thermostats in each as well as fresh antifreeze. But here is the strange thing, I have a Geo with an auto-tranny and it warms up just fine with air temps below 0. I also know of other automatic Geos that warm up with no problem. I have tried the cardboard in front of the radiator trick with no help. Has anyone else seen this problem? It makes for a cold ride to work Ha!

I have a 91 geo metro (auto). It takes a very long time to get up to normal temps. But, it will heat up eventually. The high temps have been around -5 F lately. You have to drive it for about 10-15 minutes before the thermostat opens ( you can watch the temp gauge drop quickly when it opens ). I thought about replacing the thermostat, my thinking is that it is stuck partially open when cold, but fully opens when the car finally gets hot. But, since others say their cars take time to warm up, I thing I will just leave it as is.

Your not alone.When the temp is low,I let my car warm up so I can head off to work.Once I'm on the road and turn the heat up a little more my temp gauge goes down.Almost like the heater core is the raditor.I got the big 1.3 to boot.

heh.. 'big'..

heh.. 'big'..
Yea I had a street bike with a bigger engine. :lol:

Yah, let 'em laugh. We Metro drivers know the true humor of driving past gas station after gas station while the big boys spend $37 on a fill up... :grinyes:

Yah, let 'em laugh. We Metro drivers know the true humor of driving past gas station after gas station while the big boys spend $37 on a fill up... :grinyes:
Who are you talking to?

I'll tell you right away that it's probably just your thermostat. The ones in the geo have a weak rod in them and tend to rust & break after about 5-10 years use.

I already installed a new thermostat in the car, with no change in temp. It was a NAPA thermostat that did not have an air giggle valve. I wonder how important that giggle valve is? Anyone know? :confused:

Giggle valve? I think that calls for a flux capacitor joke :smokin: . But yea. Never heard of that... He could be talking about a hole being drilled in the thermostat valve that allows air to pass through so you can bleed the air out of the cooling system. In all honesty, it sounds like you have a big bubble of air in the cooling system.

Well, I know one thing, I have a 3 cyl metro & it get's plenty warm within about 5 minutes. Have you tried changing the antifreeze to see if there's any muck in it?

OK. My bad, it called a jiggle valve. It's supposed to pass air through the thermostat. Spelling was never one of my strong supjects. Ar!

i got a new belt installed and mine heats up in about 2.5 mins.