I've had my car tuned by Doug at ECS. The first thing he told me was to change the t-stat to a 160 as soon as possible. He has the fans come on properly so the temp is pretty stable no matter what the weather and it doesn't run hot in summer weather traffic. The car runs perfectly smooth all the time, still getting great gas mileage and is as fast as I hope it to be. Maybe you should contact Doug or Chuck, they both can do mail order tunes.

 

Thanks!

 

I just went through all this testing thermostats. I had all three, 160,180 & 195 OEM. The number of the thermostat is the degree it closes. It doesn't open at that point and I confirmed this on my stovetop with a pan of hot water and a thermometer.

The problem with the 160 is if you drive your car in a cooler climit. I'm in Tennessee and we get pretty cold night here. I tried several different fan settings to get the engine and oil warm on cold nights. I could get the water temp up to 192 or so but as soon as the car went doen the road the temp would fall to about 178 and I could never get the oil temp over 190*. In the summer time the 160* works great.

I have since put in a 180* and the engine stays bewtween 190-195 and the oil temp will get to 195-198 now. The car feels better running at or close to 190*.

If you are living in a climit where the temp gets below 45* then the there is noway you are going to get 190* temp with the car moving.

I have come to the conclusion that I'm going to run the 160* in the summer and the 180* in the winter. This may not work for you in your climit but it works in mine.

 

I wonder if a guy could build a panel that slid in between the AC condenser and the Radiator that limited airflow a bit to dial in the temp for winter? Would be easier than swapping the T-stat.

Just a thought.

Ron

 

Just remove the underneath center section spoiler if its abnormally cold during the winter so no flow goes up into radiator area. That will solve too cold of water temps in cold areas.

 

OK, it sure sounds like the 160* stat isn't a very good 160* degree stat.

I believe I have the stock 195* stat and I typically see around 196* on the temp readout driving down the road. I also have a '65 Impala running a LT1 with a 190* stat and it runs at ~190* when driving down the road. It used to have a TBI 350 with a 180* stat and that engine ran at ~180* when driving down the road. All of these examples are on nice sunny T-shirt and short likely 80* plus types of days.

So, based on the above, it makes little sense to me why a C5 160* stat would run at 175* to 180* when driving down the road. If it takes say 15* for the stat to change from closed to open then the stock 195* stat would have these cars running >210* all the time.

 

First off changing out a stat is really easy

I don't have my notes but from memory I believe this is close

160* opens 178/closes 160

180* opens 195/closes 180

OEM opens 200/closes 187

 

the variable is when the fans come on and turn off. I would say the engine temp would run about in the middle of the open/close of the thermostat

 

I guess you could but it would be easier to just change the stat.

 

That makes some sense. The OEM is more like at 187* stat than a 195* stat if you followed the aftermarket ratings on these things.

I would have expected a 160* stat to start opening at around say 155* and be fully open by about say 165*, with the intent to have the engine actually run around 160*. Your test numbers say the engine should run around 170* to 175* give or take.

 

Great info guys.

 

YES, the OE stat is NOT a 195 or anything like that... It's a 187. Not too far off from 160...

One thing I keep hearing about it OPEN and SHUT temps....

What I want everyone to think about is that an automotive thermostat is NOT ALWAYS AN OPEN AND SHUT DEVICE.

We tend to think that way sometimes because we can't see it in operation or when we see

it in the pot on the stove it's HOT and gets hotter....

The most important thing to remember is that a stat is NOT open/closed....

It is a THERMAL REGULATOR VALVE meaning that it is NOT simply open and shut.

As the cooler water comes back from the radiator and mixes with the warmer water in the hose and engine block

the stat begins to close.... It does not slam shut.

The thermostat is a VARIABLE VALVE that regulates the coolant temp by "REGULATING" the flow between the

engine block and the radiator keeping the temp in check....

When the valve is open or closed, we know what's going on....but realize that when the coolant is circulating

the stat is "REGULATING the FLOW".

Lots of people never seem to look at it this way.... Just because the engine is warmed up, or above the stat

temp, DOES NOT mean the stat is always open.

Chuck CoW

 

Chuck just explained it spot on!

I use to think it was an either open or closed valve but it's more like a regulator

 

Yes, a thermostat normally regulates the flow. Still, quoting the closed and open temps is not wrong. The coolant must reach the closed temp before it can flow to the rad and start being cooled. The coolant is also allowed the maximum flow when the open temp is reached. The flow is only regulated between these 2 temperatures. So, knowing the closed and open temps lets you predict approximately what temp the engine will operate at.

I still find it odd that a 180* small-block stat runs the engine at 180* when cruising down the road but a 160* C5 stat doesn't. The manufacturers have possibly changed the meaning of the rated temp over the years or maybe it's between applications or even between manufacturers.

 

what I found is example: 180* does not open at 180 at first. It stays closed to about 195* then opens slowly and closes if if the temp drops down to 180*. This gets the engine to a operating temputure above the closing temp. Now once the thermo has gone through this cycle it will start to open as the temp rises over the set 180*.

Hope this makes since

 

I have a 160 stat. Thats exactly how my Vette runs.
Doug@ECS tuned mine

 

Has anyone tried the V1 or V2 High speed fan controller by Sac City Corvettes?
http://www.saccitycorvette.com/coolitv2html

 

I installed a 160 in my 07 Coupe and the temp runs 175-180 at highway speeds regardless of the weather conditions on the east coast (North Carolina). In summer at prolonged traffice signals, temps climb to 200 and drop as soon as the car starts rolling.