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Thanks for your help and feedback. I drove to the shop yesterday and couldn't get the temp under 196F when cruising with my 160 stat installed a few weeks ago. After replacing the stat my temps are now 180F cruising, at times under 180F. Faulty original 160 stat I'm putting it down as.
Other threads on this forum have reported the existence of excessive faulty 160 thermostats on the market.
Your "new" thermostat has nothing to do with your coolant temp after you reach 160F. Once it's open, that's it. The rest is up to your cooling system (radiator, hoses, age of coolant, etc.).
Originally Posted by BlindSpot
As said. Once past 160 the tstat is wide open all the time.
While that's true with a properly operating t-stat, it appears that the OP's concerns about a failing t-stat were valid.
Infancy failures are not real common, but of course when the more common reasons for sudden changes are eliminated, there's not much left.
Still does not explain why I would cruise on hot days at 185F and now on cooler days 196F.
Because on cool days your car is running better, leaner an has more power and that creates more heat. Why does something has to be bad anyhow? Maybe unknowingly your right foot is enjoying that change but don't get fixated in gauge. Look at the bigger picture.
Because on cool days your car is running better, leaner an has more power and that creates more heat. Why does something has to be bad anyhow? Maybe unknowingly your right foot is enjoying that change but don't get fixated in gauge. Look at the bigger picture.
If I took that advice my cooling fan would never shut off where it was tuned to come on at 196F and it would hold 185F cruising all day long.
So when I notice an abnormal temp change which also causes my fan to never shut off I should just ignore it and "look at the bigger picture"?
I had the stat changed out yesterday and with the same driving habits my temps are now again 173 to 185?
Last edited by legalins; Oct 20, 2016 at 03:17 PM.
Other threads on this forum have reported the existence of excessive faulty 160 thermostats on the market.
I installed a 160* thermostat in my 2016 Z06 a few months ago in a Late Model Racecraft housing. The thermostat went bad and the car was running 212* all the time. I swapped in a 174* Lingenfelter thermostat and the car runs at 177* cruising @65 MPH and barely hits 190* when running it hard.
I installed a 160* thermostat in my 2016 Z06 a few months ago in a Late Model Racecraft housing. The thermostat went bad and the car was running 212* all the time. I swapped in a 174* Lingenfelter thermostat and the car runs at 177* cruising @65 MPH and barely hits 190* when running it hard. Attachment 48030493
I went with the Lingenfelter this time also and all is good!
I have wanted to verify my broken thermostat. I ordered a new 160 stat to compare it to. The one on the right that opens at 160 is the new 160 and is fully open before the stock one begins to crack open. The one labeled bad is the 160 that I removed.
You can also go with a dedicated oil cooler setup and dump the coolant to oil factory cooler. That will bring coolant temps down a good bit and also help with keeping oil temps down, if you get the right setup.
While we are all on the tstat subject, I purchased a 160 Lingenfelter tstat and it does not fit in my water pump in 2 ways: it is too long, meaning when the tstat bottoms out there is still 1/4-3/8 of an inch sticking out of the pump and the diameter of the tstat with the rubber seal will not fit in the recess of the water pump.
So I'm looking for a 160 tstat that is the same length and diameter as my 180 and 190 tstat's. Can anyone guide me as to where I can go to purchase?
