what thermostat to use
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,298
Likes: 21
From: east taunton ma
what thermostat to use
Changing coolent and thermostat. Should I get the original one(if so do you have a part #) or should I go with the 160. Car is a 98 It has callaway Honker CAI and LG headers with cats and it will be going for a tune shortly. Its just street driven and not raced.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 21,325
Likes: 3,841
From: small town in S.E Pa. PA
St. Jude Donor '03-'04
The problem is the tuner will try to talk you into a 160 stat so he can get the car colder by lowering the fans temps.. he can then add some timing to allow the car to perform better. Problem is. its not good to run cold because if the oil temp stays too cold for too long, it will eventually take a toll on the engine... You are much better off using the stock stat, and on those cold nights in the winter your oil will stay nice and warm.. doing the job it was designed to do.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,572
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From: Jackson Tn
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09
I have a 180* and with some fine tuning of the fans my water temp is around 194 and might get to 200 on a hot day. This allows my oil temp to get to 200 like it should. When I was running a 160* the oil hardly ever got to 200* and the water temp would be between 174* -185*. Believe it or not, the engine produces better power at 195*
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
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From: At the beach in little Rhody
Why not adjust the one you have in there now. I have two and have been playing with the temps that they open. I don't drive in winter but late fall and early spring you need to get the oil up to temp which is impossible with a cold thermostat. Haven't found the perfect setup yet but I know I can't run with oil that doesn't get hot enough. Your in Mass so you will have similar oil temps if you go too low on the thermostat.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,722
Likes: 138
From: Florida
St. Jude Donor '09
Save your money and keep the stock thermostat.
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Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: small town in S.E Pa. PA
St. Jude Donor '03-'04
You didn't have a 160 stat in your car in Mass... if you drove that car in 20*F temps and the stat was a 160 your coolant would be 160 not 190 unless of course your radiator was completely blocked, Ive tested a dozen cars with 160 stats in sub freezing temps and several stats that claim to be 160's are in fact not... Ive tested sub freezing temps with actual 160 stats driving down the highway at 60 mph and with ambient at 20 F the coolant temp was 160, just like the stat.. doing the same thing with a genuine 180 stat in 20 F temps.. the coolant was 180 and the oil never broke 200 F. A very bad situation for an LSX engine. Proof of not having a 160 stat in your car was the fact that is never got below 195 F. A stat controls how cold the coolant gets not how hot it gets. once the coolant reaches a designed temp it closes to keep the coolant no colder than the designed temp...
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
Last I checked a thermostat wasn't a coolant "switch". They are linear devices that start to open at one temperature and finish opening at a higher temperature. There isn't a mechanical egine thermostat made that will keep the coolant temperature at exactly the rated value of the stat. Also, the rated number given for C5 thermostats is the temperature it begins to open. So, a 160* stat should just start to open a very small crack as the coolant temperature hits 161*. I can't recall but the closed to open temperature span is something like 15* or 20*.
With the stock thermostat, my car will run about 190* in freezing temps and run about 195* on hot days (say around 100* days) when highway cruising at 60mph. The stock is something like a 187* thermostat. So, the stat seems to vary from just a little open to maybe 1/2 open give or take depending on air temps.
There is no way a 160* stat should be running 195 on the highway unless something else in the cooling system has issues. Others have posted that their 160* stat engines run in the 175*-180* range on the highway.
If you're only running in the summer then there's nothing wrong with a 160* stat. Winter or near freezing driving won't do the engine much good though.
With the stock thermostat, my car will run about 190* in freezing temps and run about 195* on hot days (say around 100* days) when highway cruising at 60mph. The stock is something like a 187* thermostat. So, the stat seems to vary from just a little open to maybe 1/2 open give or take depending on air temps.
There is no way a 160* stat should be running 195 on the highway unless something else in the cooling system has issues. Others have posted that their 160* stat engines run in the 175*-180* range on the highway.
If you're only running in the summer then there's nothing wrong with a 160* stat. Winter or near freezing driving won't do the engine much good though.
Last edited by lionelhutz; Jan 31, 2013 at 12:56 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 21,325
Likes: 3,841
From: small town in S.E Pa. PA
St. Jude Donor '03-'04
Last I checked a thermostat wasn't a coolant "switch". They are linear devices that start to open at one temperature and finish opening at a higher temperature. There isn't a mechanical egine thermostat made that will keep the coolant temperature at exactly the rated value of the stat. Also, the rated number given for C5 thermostats is the temperature it begins to open. So, a 160* stat should just start to open a very small crack as the coolant temperature hits 161*. I can't recall but the closed to open temperature span is something like 15* or 20*.
With the stock thermostat, my car will run about 190* in freezing temps and run about 195* on hot days (say around 100* days) when highway cruising at 60mph. The stock is something like a 187* thermostat. So, the stat seems to vary from just a little open to maybe 1/2 open give or take depending on air temps.
There is no way a 160* stat should be running 195 on the highway unless something else in the cooling system has issues. Others have posted that their 160* stat engines run in the 175*-180* range on the highway.
If you're only running in the summer then there's nothing wrong with a 160* stat. Winter or near freezing driving won't do the engine much good though.
With the stock thermostat, my car will run about 190* in freezing temps and run about 195* on hot days (say around 100* days) when highway cruising at 60mph. The stock is something like a 187* thermostat. So, the stat seems to vary from just a little open to maybe 1/2 open give or take depending on air temps.
There is no way a 160* stat should be running 195 on the highway unless something else in the cooling system has issues. Others have posted that their 160* stat engines run in the 175*-180* range on the highway.
If you're only running in the summer then there's nothing wrong with a 160* stat. Winter or near freezing driving won't do the engine much good though.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
That's a childish response. What is your problem anyways. It seems dumb you're having issues with someone I posted after you post here that it's best to use the stock one yet you have posted in other threads that you swap in a 160* stat for the summer. Exactly what I recommended in the last paragraph.