hotrod03

“Safe minimum running oil temp” I’m guessing when I say 160F before running my LS7 higher rpms. I’ve always took it easy until 175F. So gear heads what is your opinion what my oil temp should be before I lean into “it”. My tuner installed a 160 stat
And on days of mid 40s it takes awhile to get my oil temp up. Mobil 1
0-40 euro oil is the oil suggested.

Unreal

160 t stat just cause premature wear on motor. For oil temps 160-170 is a good range to start getting on it.

AHP

I generally wait until at least 160° but curious to hear other opinions. I know guys at the drag strip that only wait until the car is at a minimum operation temp (like 1st pass off the trailer) without much regard to oil temps, before letting it rip.

AzDave47

160* oil is a good minimum to start getting on it. I look to get to 160* early in a warmup lap and then it will quickly climb to 200*+

Must_Have_Z

160 degree thermostats serve almost no purpose. What are your coolant temps during normal driving?

HOXXOH

For many years I tried as cold as possible with thick oil. With the Vette, I like 210 to 230 at the drags and 200-215 on the street.
10.80 @ 126 LS3 bolton.

HOXXOH

Normal driving? What's that?
Open road in 110* ambient with 160 stat runs about 180 coolant. Same heat in rush hour stoplights can top 240.
I've never seen less than 170 coolant even at freezing temps. A 160 stat gives you a running chance to stay under 200. The stock 186 stat will always push you over 195 in the first mile.

C2Racer

From decades of road racing 140 degrees works. Never hurt a motor starting at this temp. Multiple mechanics have recommended the same. We do not run stats but do keep cardboard around!

Steve

Da Z06

This. No problems.

TXGS507

Good to know Steve...

Must_Have_Z

So this proves your 160 thermostat does nothing to help in cooling. If it did, your car would run at 160 degrees. Your thermostat has nothing to do with your car running at 180 degrees. It fully opens at 160 degrees, so cooling at that temperature and above is solely based on your system's efficiency - radiator, airflow, coolant, etc. You could have put in a 180 degree thermostat and your car would have run the exact same temperature.

EDIT: Just for reference, I have the stock 187 degree thermostat in my car. With the help of my Dewitts, the car runs right around 190-192 on the street all day long. If I had a 160 thermostat, it would still run at 190-192 degrees.

nuke61

Not true, the thermostat only starts opening sooner, so there's virtually no way that the coolant will stay at 160 F because of hysteresis. A simple thermostat like that will always have an offset, and the lower limit to cooling will be the radiator. If his radiator is up to the task, it could easily drop his running temperatures in the Phoenix summers from 220 F to 190 F.

hotrod03

yep, and when the temp is over 100 stop and go traffic my temp will rise
To the radiators capability, which it would be somewhere 200-240F

Jjagg0125

Do you guys feel as if a oil thermostat such as the improved racing one actually works to bring oil temps up higher?

Unreal

Higher, no
Quicker to get there, maybe depending on current setup.

Must_Have_Z

We're saying the same thing. His original quote was that his 160 degree thermostat "helped his car run at 180 degrees." This is false.

nuke61

It may be false, or it may be true - it depends on the heat load. What's true is that with a stock temperature thermostat, there's no way his motor could run at 180 degrees. With a 160, it might.

HOXXOH

So the guy from cold as hell WI put in a larger radiator to help get his temps down to 190-192 with a 187 stat, but fails to understand that the stat only controls the minimum temps, not the maximum. BTW, the DIC reports coolant temps in the left head, not right next to the t-stat on the right side. It's not unusual to have a minimum 8-10 difference.

Why the bigger radiator? Wasn't the OEM keeping it cool enough? I'm betting you don't drive in 100-120* extremely low humidity weather very often?

Unreal

I know when my brother did a big radiator, upgraded cooling system on his GTO, and a 160 t-stat car would run right at 160, heater would never get hot, and car would get **** mileage, never exit open loop, etc. If you have excess cooling to be able to run on the t-stat temp, then you would not want to run at 160 either way.

HOXXOH

I never made that quote. Maybe that's your version of "Open road in 110* ambient with 160 stat runs about 180 coolant".

The point is that anything you do to reduce the coolant temps will also reduce oil temps. All heat you create with your car, eventually dissipates into the air. You can only change the rate. T-stats automatically control the upper or lower limits of the rate.