160 Thermo question
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 378
Likes: 0
From: McKinney Texas
160 Thermo question
I installed the 160' Thermo in and everythign looks and runs great when Im driving. When I sit idol for a long period of time the temp gets up to 230. Is this normal? Shouldnt the fans kick on and start cooling it down before it gets that hot or is that not too hot?
thanks.
thanks.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 8,472
Likes: 38
From: Houston TX
St. Jude Donor '11
The 160 degree t-stat only opens sooner. Your fans are still set to come on at 226 degrees. So the t-stat opens sooner now, allowing water to flow through the system at a lower temp and when you are moving there is enough airflow across the radiator to cool the engine down lower than with the stock t-stat but when not moving it just heats up until the fans come on at 226 (stock first fan temp).
You need to get your fans programmed to come on earlier or get a Vinci fan controller.
You need to get your fans programmed to come on earlier or get a Vinci fan controller.
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
From: Richmond Virginia
The fans need to be on sooner. Turning them on before the tstat opens though is a waste, and depending on where you set them could be rather bad for them. With the stock tstat maintaining 194 on the highway, if you program them to cut on at 170, they will run until you cut the car off because the temp will never fall below ~194. It would probably cool the radiator lower than 194, but once the coolant in the engine heats enough to open the tstat it will cycle the hot water out and new water in, which would only stay cooler for a short time. Also, I'm not sure if it's true on vettes like it is on fbodies, but at highway speeds the fans are actually a hinderance as the moving air moves more/faster than the fans can pull it.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 837
Likes: 2
From: Derry NH
i bought a 172 deg stat and tested it on the stovetop with water and a meat thermometer. It opened just above 190 deg. I am pretty sure the thermometer was fairly accurate because the water began to boil between 205 and 210 deg according to it (obviously 212 being the ideal). I just kept the stock one installed. I guess the best thing to do is test them both at the same time.
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Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 16,477
Likes: 26
From: Gone
CI 6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03
Originally Posted by kylryn
Thanks Guys, So I shouldnt be conserned?
The lower temp thermostat doesn't do anything to control how hot get your car gets, it only controls how cold it can run.
Lower temp stats are normally installed to allow lowering the fan turn-on points, without having the fans run constantly, which is what inevitably happens if you lower the fan setpoints too much with a stock Tstat.
