C5 operating temps...
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,660
Likes: 365
From: SF Bay Area
I was specifically talking once engine temps are above both 180* or 160* stats....say 195* (not unrealistic here most of the year) would not both stats be full open and the temp is whatever the systems capacity is able to keep it at, you may not see that there, but even my 2014 gmc runs 210* here. I'm not saying your situation is the same, my car has a 383 and a large stall plus a sc no stat was going to keep temp down
I greatly exceeded the systems limits.
I greatly exceeded the systems limits.
Instructor
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 117
Likes: 15
From: Foley Alabama
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 4,786
Likes: 425
From: North Georgia, USA
Also, this condition with a lower temperature thermostat and no adjustments to the ECT fuel trim maps will make the catalytic converters run much hotter than they should, making temps under the hood hotter when the vehicle is stopped. Eventually, it can damage the catalytic converters from the overheating there, and can lead to P0420/P0421 DTC's when the catalysts fail, or even exhaust blockage and other damage when the catalysts fail.
And, as other's have noted, there's no significant horsepower to be gained with a lower temperature thermostat, even if you properly tune for it. If you don't tune for it in the ECT maps, you'll actually lose a little power from running too rich.
Last edited by C6_Racer_X; Aug 8, 2017 at 10:21 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,340
Likes: 35
From: Folsom Lake CA
When my 2001 MN6 was stock and got hot like the 210+ range, it lost significant power and pinged a lot at low rpms. The hotter it got, like into the 220-230 range, the pinging got worse. It was so bad that if the traffic light on a hill near my house was red during summer weather, I had to really get on the accelerator and slip the clutch an exorbitant amount just to get the car moving when the light turned green, I kid you not. Incidentally, my experience has been that this power loss is much more apparent in manual transmission cars.
Because I previously did so with my C4, the first thing I did after experiencing the results of such high temps in my C5, was put in a 160 stat which, to be clear, simply starts to open at 160. I verified this by boiling it prior to installing. Cruising down the freeway, even in 100 degree weather, my car stayed within 178-180 range. That told me that that's what my car is designed to do, considering that at highway speeds the only cooling comes from moving air, no fans, nothing else. With a 6th gear roll-on, lugging from 75mph on up to 100+, no pinging whatsoever, and it hit temps of 185. Spirited driving without traffic it would get up to 187 Temps, but always go back down to 178-180 once I was back to cruising again.
Because I did not yet get a tune to bring fans on Temps down, it would still get hot in long traffic waits, and then ping like mad again. I got a tune, and had fans lowered and now it normally runs between 178 and 199, cruising and in traffic. On really hot days in mega traffic, it rarely creeps into the 200s but when it does, some pinging returns. I have had 3 tunes by two different tuners to address this issue, to no avail. Don't know if it's CA gas that causes this, but I've tried every brand out there, but as it stands I, too, have discovered that my car runs its best at lower temps.
I just changed out my water pump, and because I went with original GM, I had to update to the 2004 two-piece thermostat housing, and even though the housing came with a stock GM stat, I still spent the extra few bucks to put in a 160 stat again, because based solely on my experience with this car, I don't want my car seeing 200 degree coolant temps if I can help it. If other people's cars run great in the 200s, great, but mine sure doesn't.
Because I previously did so with my C4, the first thing I did after experiencing the results of such high temps in my C5, was put in a 160 stat which, to be clear, simply starts to open at 160. I verified this by boiling it prior to installing. Cruising down the freeway, even in 100 degree weather, my car stayed within 178-180 range. That told me that that's what my car is designed to do, considering that at highway speeds the only cooling comes from moving air, no fans, nothing else. With a 6th gear roll-on, lugging from 75mph on up to 100+, no pinging whatsoever, and it hit temps of 185. Spirited driving without traffic it would get up to 187 Temps, but always go back down to 178-180 once I was back to cruising again.
Because I did not yet get a tune to bring fans on Temps down, it would still get hot in long traffic waits, and then ping like mad again. I got a tune, and had fans lowered and now it normally runs between 178 and 199, cruising and in traffic. On really hot days in mega traffic, it rarely creeps into the 200s but when it does, some pinging returns. I have had 3 tunes by two different tuners to address this issue, to no avail. Don't know if it's CA gas that causes this, but I've tried every brand out there, but as it stands I, too, have discovered that my car runs its best at lower temps.
I just changed out my water pump, and because I went with original GM, I had to update to the 2004 two-piece thermostat housing, and even though the housing came with a stock GM stat, I still spent the extra few bucks to put in a 160 stat again, because based solely on my experience with this car, I don't want my car seeing 200 degree coolant temps if I can help it. If other people's cars run great in the 200s, great, but mine sure doesn't.
Last edited by MrLeadFoot; Aug 16, 2017 at 06:49 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 111
Likes: 12
From: USMC Veteran Santa Fe, NM. USA!
C5 of Month Finalist 2017
part number?
When my 2001 MN6 was stock and got hot like the 210+ range, it lost significant power and pinged a lot at low rpms. The hotter it got, like into the 220-230 range, the pinging got worse. It was so bad that if the traffic light on a hill near my house was red during summer weather, I had to really get on the accelerator and slip the clutch an exorbitant amount just to get the car moving when the light turned green, I kid you not. Incidentally, my experience has been that this power loss is much more apparent in manual transmission cars.
Because I previously did so with my C4, the first thing I did after experiencing the results of such high temps in my C5, was put in a 160 stat which, to be clear, simply starts to open at 160. I verified this by boiling it prior to installing. Cruising down the freeway, even in 100 degree weather, my car stayed within 178-180 range. That told me that that's what my car is designed to do, considering that at highway speeds the only cooling comes from moving air, no fans, nothing else. With a 6th gear roll-on, lugging from 75mph on up to 100+, no pinging whatsoever, and it hit temps of 185. Spirited driving without traffic it would get up to 187 Temps, but always go back down to 178-180 once I was back to cruising again.
Because I did not yet get a tune to bring fans on Temps down, it would still get hot in long traffic waits, and then ping like mad again. I got a tune, and had fans lowered and now it normally runs between 178 and 199, cruising and in traffic. On really hot days in mega traffic, it rarely creeps into the 200s but when it does, some pinging returns. I have had 3 tunes by two different tuners to address this issue, to no avail. Don't know if it's CA gas that causes this, but I've tried every brand out there, but as it stands I, too, have discovered that my car runs its best at lower temps.
I just changed out my water pump, and because I went with original GM, I had to update to the 2004 two-piece thermostat housing, and even though the housing came with a stock GM stat, I still spent the extra few bucks to put in a 160 stat again, because based solely on my experience with this car, I don't want my car seeing 200 degree coolant temps if I can help it. If other people's cars run great in the 200s, great, but mine sure doesn't.
Because I previously did so with my C4, the first thing I did after experiencing the results of such high temps in my C5, was put in a 160 stat which, to be clear, simply starts to open at 160. I verified this by boiling it prior to installing. Cruising down the freeway, even in 100 degree weather, my car stayed within 178-180 range. That told me that that's what my car is designed to do, considering that at highway speeds the only cooling comes from moving air, no fans, nothing else. With a 6th gear roll-on, lugging from 75mph on up to 100+, no pinging whatsoever, and it hit temps of 185. Spirited driving without traffic it would get up to 187 Temps, but always go back down to 178-180 once I was back to cruising again.
Because I did not yet get a tune to bring fans on Temps down, it would still get hot in long traffic waits, and then ping like mad again. I got a tune, and had fans lowered and now it normally runs between 178 and 199, cruising and in traffic. On really hot days in mega traffic, it rarely creeps into the 200s but when it does, some pinging returns. I have had 3 tunes by two different tuners to address this issue, to no avail. Don't know if it's CA gas that causes this, but I've tried every brand out there, but as it stands I, too, have discovered that my car runs its best at lower temps.
I just changed out my water pump, and because I went with original GM, I had to update to the 2004 two-piece thermostat housing, and even though the housing came with a stock GM stat, I still spent the extra few bucks to put in a 160 stat again, because based solely on my experience with this car, I don't want my car seeing 200 degree coolant temps if I can help it. If other people's cars run great in the 200s, great, but mine sure doesn't.
what's the part # and a good brand for the 160 stat?
I just updated a lot for the cooling system - see here: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...cool-baby.html
...but I did not do the 160 stat...
my car runs much cooler, but if I can get it a bit lower, it would make me happy!
1/4 mile/AutoX
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 11,440
Likes: 2,184
From: Buffalo Texas
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,340
Likes: 35
From: Folsom Lake CA
Liam, I don't know what year your car is, or more importantly what year your water pump is, given that you don't know what the previous owner did. The reason that's important is because there are two different styles of thermostat housing/water inlet pieces for the C5 water pump. In 2004, they changed from a housing that contained an integrated thermostat to a housing where the thermostat is separate from the housing itself.
With my original water pump my 2001 had the one-piece design, so prior to my water pump change a couple of weeks ago, I was running a one-piece 160 thermostat made by Motorad. Prior to installation, I boiled it to verify that it began to open at 160 and it was spot on. That Stat was in place for 70k miles with no issues, so naturally I gravitated to that same manufacturer when I had to move to the model that fits the newer 2004 two-piece thermostat housing design. Note that I opted to go go OEM GM instead of AC Delco for the water pump, and the only one available today is the 2004 design. My local O'Reilly auto parts store's house brand is Murray, Motorad makes the stats for Murray. Motored is stamped right on the Stat itself. I lucked out because for some reason they actually had a 160 in Stock, when stores like these never seem to have anything but OE spec stuff.
Oh, I almost forgot. I remember now that there is a way to tell without taking anything apart as to which style you have. If your thermostat housing has what appears to be an extra piece of metal with a hole in it molded off so the side that is seemingly of no use, you have the one-piece integrated design, and should purchase a 160 Stat accordingly. The newer thermostat housing does not have this extra molded "ear", so if your housing has no extra "ear" you need just the Stat, not the one with the integrated housing. Just ask for one for a 2004, and it should look like a regular Stat design for any other car. Here is what I mean, but ignore the caption in the pic:
https://www.google.com/search?q=2001...nIlq7n2vTJSHM:
FWIW, I can't believe you replaced all that stuff on your car. Killer stuff, to be sure, but that grime in your stock radiator and condenser fins was indeed the culprit of your heat problems. Nevertheless, you now have one bad *** cooling system!
With my original water pump my 2001 had the one-piece design, so prior to my water pump change a couple of weeks ago, I was running a one-piece 160 thermostat made by Motorad. Prior to installation, I boiled it to verify that it began to open at 160 and it was spot on. That Stat was in place for 70k miles with no issues, so naturally I gravitated to that same manufacturer when I had to move to the model that fits the newer 2004 two-piece thermostat housing design. Note that I opted to go go OEM GM instead of AC Delco for the water pump, and the only one available today is the 2004 design. My local O'Reilly auto parts store's house brand is Murray, Motorad makes the stats for Murray. Motored is stamped right on the Stat itself. I lucked out because for some reason they actually had a 160 in Stock, when stores like these never seem to have anything but OE spec stuff.
Oh, I almost forgot. I remember now that there is a way to tell without taking anything apart as to which style you have. If your thermostat housing has what appears to be an extra piece of metal with a hole in it molded off so the side that is seemingly of no use, you have the one-piece integrated design, and should purchase a 160 Stat accordingly. The newer thermostat housing does not have this extra molded "ear", so if your housing has no extra "ear" you need just the Stat, not the one with the integrated housing. Just ask for one for a 2004, and it should look like a regular Stat design for any other car. Here is what I mean, but ignore the caption in the pic:
https://www.google.com/search?q=2001...nIlq7n2vTJSHM:
FWIW, I can't believe you replaced all that stuff on your car. Killer stuff, to be sure, but that grime in your stock radiator and condenser fins was indeed the culprit of your heat problems. Nevertheless, you now have one bad *** cooling system!
Last edited by MrLeadFoot; Aug 16, 2017 at 11:58 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,660
Likes: 365
From: SF Bay Area
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Instructor
Joined: Jul 2017
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From: USMC Veteran Santa Fe, NM. USA!
C5 of Month Finalist 2017
Liam, I don't know what year your car is, or more importantly what year your water pump is, given that you don't know what the previous owner did. The reason that's important is because there are two different styles of thermostat housing/water inlet pieces for the C5 water pump. In 2004, they changed from a housing that contained an integrated thermostat to a housing where the thermostat is separate from the housing itself.
With my original water pump my 2001 had the one-piece design, so prior to my water pump change a couple of weeks ago, I was running a one-piece 160 thermostat made by Motorad. Prior to installation, I boiled it to verify that it began to open at 160 and it was spot on. That Stat was in place for 70k miles with no issues, so naturally I gravitated to that same manufacturer when I had to move to the model that fits the newer 2004 two-piece thermostat housing design. Note that I opted to go go OEM GM instead of AC Delco for the water pump, and the only one available today is the 2004 design. My local O'Reilly auto parts store's house brand is Murray, Motorad makes the stats for Murray. Motored is stamped right on the Stat itself. I lucked out because for some reason they actually had a 160 in Stock, when stores like these never seem to have anything but OE spec stuff.
Oh, I almost forgot. I remember now that there is a way to tell without taking anything apart as to which style you have. If your thermostat housing has what appears to be an extra piece of metal with a hole in it molded off so the side that is seemingly of no use, you have the one-piece integrated design, and should purchase a 160 Stat accordingly. The newer thermostat housing does not have this extra molded "ear", so if your housing has no extra "ear" you need just the Stat, not the one with the integrated housing. Just ask for one for a 2004, and it should look like a regular Stat design for any other car. Here is what I mean, but ignore the caption in the pic:
https://www.google.com/search?q=2001...nIlq7n2vTJSHM:
FWIW, I can't believe you replaced all that stuff on your car. Killer stuff, to be sure, but that grime in your stock radiator and condenser fins was indeed the culprit of your heat problems. Nevertheless, you now have one bad *** cooling system!
With my original water pump my 2001 had the one-piece design, so prior to my water pump change a couple of weeks ago, I was running a one-piece 160 thermostat made by Motorad. Prior to installation, I boiled it to verify that it began to open at 160 and it was spot on. That Stat was in place for 70k miles with no issues, so naturally I gravitated to that same manufacturer when I had to move to the model that fits the newer 2004 two-piece thermostat housing design. Note that I opted to go go OEM GM instead of AC Delco for the water pump, and the only one available today is the 2004 design. My local O'Reilly auto parts store's house brand is Murray, Motorad makes the stats for Murray. Motored is stamped right on the Stat itself. I lucked out because for some reason they actually had a 160 in Stock, when stores like these never seem to have anything but OE spec stuff.
Oh, I almost forgot. I remember now that there is a way to tell without taking anything apart as to which style you have. If your thermostat housing has what appears to be an extra piece of metal with a hole in it molded off so the side that is seemingly of no use, you have the one-piece integrated design, and should purchase a 160 Stat accordingly. The newer thermostat housing does not have this extra molded "ear", so if your housing has no extra "ear" you need just the Stat, not the one with the integrated housing. Just ask for one for a 2004, and it should look like a regular Stat design for any other car. Here is what I mean, but ignore the caption in the pic:
https://www.google.com/search?q=2001...nIlq7n2vTJSHM:
FWIW, I can't believe you replaced all that stuff on your car. Killer stuff, to be sure, but that grime in your stock radiator and condenser fins was indeed the culprit of your heat problems. Nevertheless, you now have one bad *** cooling system!
...I replaced the water pump on July 7th of this year...and installed a new stat as well. I'll take a look at it and maybe post a pic to correctly identify.
Thanks!