You'll loose minimal coolant at the thermostat - don't sweat it - it will be fine.

As for your temperature of 60 degrees it sounds like the thermostat is stuck open - or not there!

Even though you've thought ahead and got a compatible sensor etc I'd still check the coolant temperature independently. If you've got an infra red gun then they're great but a standard contact thermocouple + multimeter / glass thermometer will still work!

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!