Ok then, so took the stat back out this aft and stuffed it into boiling water and the damn thing didn't open up for till round 2 of the boiling water bath. When it did it snapped open and it is binding on the shaft so it opens sideways and only about 1mm. I didn't have another stat as i was simply testing the stat today so I soldiered up 2 of the 3 holes ( leaving the factory hole with the valve removed ). The damn van ran just the needles width below half on the gauge and blew heat very well. I simply can't believe that I managed to get bad new Stant thermostats right out of the box. I am going to get a dodge stat next and if this turns out to be the entire story I think I had better start buying lotto tickets, and lots of them because that would be some kind of way out there odds. 2 new stats bought at 2 different stores.