what thermostat?
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
Likes: 439
From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
I think if you always bring your car up to its normal operating temperature, a 160 thermostat would be fine. It's just that it takes a lot longer to do so, especially in colder climates, and when the car is run repeatedly w/o the engine attaining operating temp, it will cause generated condensation to not burn off and thereby create sludge. On the other hand, you can have a 195 thermostat in an engine but if operating temp is repeatedly not reached, you will have a sludge generating problem (ask me how I know) unless the oil is changed more often than what is recommended. I think the point is that the 180 or 195 will get the engine to operating temp quicker and thereby lessen the chance of leaving condensation in a shut down engine. An engine will also burn more efficiently at its normal operating temp and these are a couple of reasons why car manufacturers use the higher temp thermostats. To me this is just common sense.
