All of this over a few °s.

 

Here in the dirty south where summer time temps can easily reach 95-98 degrees, humidity running around the same numbers, percent wise, my 160t-stat, keeps me at 176-78 degrees running the highways at 80-90mph, A/C on, city driving has never been above 185. Before changing to the 160 and reprograming the fans, I've seen city driving reach 210-20. So for me it was quite an improvement.

 

I have reprogrammed fans and a stock stat. Coolant stays at 199 no matter what the temp or airflow is outside and oil gets to 210 or so after about 20 miles.

 

This is the deadest around! Merry Cristmas

 

Are you for real? Yes, opening the thermostat will allow it to run cooler temporarily;however, it only means the coolant flows through the radiator at a lower temperature. The temperature will continue to rise no matter what, and the only thing that will affect that is the effectiveness of the radiator, integrity of the system, and fan settings. Once the engine is at operating temperature, the 160 thermostat might as well not even be there, because the engine won't see that temp again until you shut it off.

 

 

If you think of a thermostat as a light switch (NOT a dimmer switch) then its either on or off. Once its "on" how bright the light gets(or how hot your engine gets) is dependent on the characteristics of the bulb (engine) and the ambient operating conditions.

 

one thing no one has discussed is the effect on smog certification. what happens when your car doesnt get to the factory operating temp?

 

Supporting tuners like ECS and COW request that you have already installed a 160 degree Tstat... before you give them the Vette or PCM to tune...

 

Some states just plug in to the OBD port-if it passes that, your out the door.

 

t stat has no affect on that, unless you have a very short drive to the emissons test facility.

 

you should always get the car up to maximum temperature before emissions testing. I always take a long drive then hot rod a little bit before I get there. never go straight there from a cold stop.

 

T-stat determines how COOL the coolant will get. If your radiator and fans are capable of cooling to dexcool to below 160 it will CLOSE to prevent getting any cooler. Once it's open, it can do nothing to regulate how HOT the coolant gets...that is a function of radiator/fans/etc. The benefit of using a lower degree thermostat is so that you can lower the fan on/off setpoints, and with a higher degree thermostat the fans fight the thermostat to regulate temperature.

 

??
Under most driving conditions (warmed up in closed loop mode), a 160/180 or the stock 190/195 will be OPEN-once the thermostat is open, it's the rest of the cooling system that determines what running temp you'll see. Thermostats are generally about getting the engine up to the operating temperature IT WAS DESIGNED TO RUN AT (which from other peoples posts, seem to be in the 190's which seems to be the best).

The ideal running temps should be 190/195-220/225. The fans generally don't even kick on till 225ish. Again, if you want the COOLANT to run cooler, reprogramming the fans will get you where you want to be, no a T-stat. The overall temp of the engine will change very little, your just trying to keep the cylinder heads/head gaskets and cooling system from getting too hot and destroying themselves. The ideal thing to get cooler is the incoming air to the throttle body not the coolant.

 

ya know.......The function of the t stat is to keep the coolant in the engine until operating temperature is reached. Period. It is not the purpose of the t stat to regulate temperature under operating conditions. Also, the t stat and fans do not fight each other to keep the engine cool.

 

Reread the post.

 

Obviously stated by someone who's never driven a vehicle in subzero temps, where cooling efficiency and fans are never an issue. In those sorts of conditions, the thermostat is there to keep the engine running warm enough in normal operation, and it is definitely not always open once warmed up. (nor is it in 80* ambient temps either).

It's funny how people don't think the Tstat does anything once the car is warmed up. It most definitely does, it is in nearly constant operation to prevent the engine from running too cool. If you don't believe that, ask yourself why a car running on the highway at 70mph produces a steady coolant temp of 190-195 with the stock Tstat....But if you do nothing but install a 160 stat...that same running temp under identical conditions drops to the 170s? If both Tstats are "always open" once the car was up to temp, then why the difference?


What that tells me, that in a bone stock car with 192 stat, the Tstat is continually opening and closing during normal operation. It is keeping the coolant temp above 190...when it's obvious the airflow and radiator capacity is efficient enough to cool it below that point, which is exactly what happens when you install a lower temp Tstat.

If anything, the 160 stat does less work once the car is up to temp, as in my experience, the radiator efficiency alone seems to regulate the temp to about 175 in moderate (50-80) temps in normal driving, and can't cool enough to cause the 160 stat to close. Either that, or the 160 rating is actually a little higher than stated...more like a 170.

I've not yet driven my car is severely cold weather with the 160 stat determine what the actual open/close point of it is. But like I said, in any car, you can watch the temp gauge when operating in very cold weather and easily see when it opens and closes.

 

I have a 160*F Hypertech stat, and the engine temp is ~172-174*F at highway speeds. I have the low fans on at 183*F & the high fans on at 185*F. Then both fans turn off at 178*F.

Russ Kemp

 

 

OK, next person that changes T-stat-don't reprogram the fans and let's see what happens. I agree, under extreme cold the T-stat could possibly close but even my everyday driver here in Chicago does not get below the T-stat rating in the winter.