flash1034

The stock 2002 Z06 seems like its set up to run a little hot, probably for emissions reasons. Has anybody tried putting a 180 or 160 degree thermostat in a stock Z06 to see if it help the engine put out more power by giving the car a richer charge? Would there be any draw backs? It sure worked in my Jeep? Any thoughts?

Flash :seeya

MDL-01C5

Welcome to the Forum, Flash!!!:D
Putting in a lower T-stat is an excellent mod to make, and will free up some power that is lost to heat, but if SOTP (Seat Of The Pants) HP is what you seek, then this wouldn't be what you're looking for.
Whatever gains you get would be so small that you'd be very unlikely to feel any difference in the car.
Still a good overall mod, though, and one I recommend--just don't expect to feel anything off of it alone :cheers:
Get an intake like the Vortex or blackwing to start(if you've not already)--you WILL notice an improvement there :yesnod:

Viprklr

You may see a slight difference in temperature with a lower T-stat, but you really won't see consistent results until you kick the fans on earlier. I have a fan controller/t-stat combo I got from Xtreme Motorsports and it keeps my coolant at 180 and my oil temps below 200 consistently, even in 100+ degree weather. If I go to the strip and go WOT often the oil will creep up a little more, but that is to be expected. :D Give Nate a call at Xtreme...he can help. Or, make your own fan controller for less than $20. :cheers:

no cure

can you quote a source or show before/after dyno numbers or other data for this fact?

others (especially the GM racing folks) claim that putting in a lower tstat will allow the engine to run 'too cool' with deleterious effects re long term engine wear..

jschindler

This comes up on the forum every few months. I don't claim to know the answer, but food for thought. When I ran high performance boats (my last had Mercruiser 502 cu inch, 500 hp engines), they are all set to run at about 150 - 160 degrees. As you can see by the specs, these are highly tuned engines and have very good durability. The difference is they don't have to meet emissions or fuel economy standards. Even in very hard running they never went above 180 degrees, and I never had a bit of trouble with my engines.

97 C5

I also thought about going with a lower ther. It helped the car run at lower temps in all my other cars so I figure it will help the vette. As far as performance?? I t just makes me feel better to see the gauge lower than 220 :chevy

6Speeder

[QUOTE]Putting in a lower T-stat is an excellent mod to make, and will free up some power that is lost to heat

can you quote a source or show before/after dyno numbers or other data for this fact?

:yesnod: Going to a lower temp thermostat (with earlier fan turn on) doesn't free up power lost to heat, but it WILL allow your engine computer to get more agressive timing without detonation. This is what gets more power. I proved this on my engine with back-to-back runs both on the street using a G-Tech (showed 15 HP difference between running at 180 Vs. 205) and at the dragstrip where I ran 2mph faster and 2 tenths quicker starting at 180 Vs. 205. :cool:

borba

I put in a 160 tstat and a fan controller. I have the fans coming on at 175 and the car does not get above 180-185 in traffic. This setup works great and I know the engine appreciates it! :cheers:

Evil-Twin

you guys claiming running a cold engine given you HP gain without any cost.. obviously have not seen all the post about engin carbonization.. and engine knock due to build up.. you cant compare a boat engine to a car engine... if you run a bpoat engine a few hours a week you are lucky.. and their mantenmce schedule is way more intence than a car engine.. winton cup cars run at 210 F + - 5 degrees..for peak performance..I agree that lowerering summer temps are a good idea.. but too cold will cost so you have to be careful.. I have all three thermostates... the 160 is ok when its 95 + but at night if your driving its too cold.. the 178/180 thermostate is the all around best...sure you can play with your fan setings between daytime and night time but thatis a pain in the butt.. if you can keep the temps between 180 and 200 your doing good... below 180 can cause carbon bulid up.. and increased compression.. premature engine wear.. GM already has a proceedure for decarbonization.. at best ten degree will give will add .8 to 1.0 hp.. so for two hp is it worth it to risk engine damage..at the track you can set the car up for cold.. dense air is best... why hasnt anyone added an air conditioning coil to the air intake.... you want dense air.,.. years ago we use to use a cool can filled with ice ... becareful abouyt runing at night with cold temps... Ive seen my 160 thermostate give me 155 temp.. while driving to Atlantic City doing 75 mph at night with outside temps at 50 F.. so the 160 is not a good day time night time thermostate

jschindler

I've been reading this Forum for a year now and have not seen one single person post that a C5 has had "engine carbonization" problems. There are people who theorize about it, but none that have actually had it happen. Also, my Tahoe has been running at 160 for almost a year now, and I can report zero problems in about 11,000 miles of running with it.

And what about someone who only drives three miles to work. Their car will never get above 160 degrees. Are their engines falling apart on them? The only issue is if the oil does not warm up completely they have to change it more often due to condensation not burning out of the oil. Millions of people only drive very short distances and their car never warms above 160. I just don't believe it is harmful.

And for your comment about boats. I agree that they don't get driven as much. But if it's bad for an engine, any engine, why don't they runner hotter thermostats in them. The maintenance schedule on boats only effects things like oil changes. There is NO maintenance schedule for tearing them down or "de carboning" them ever.

6Speeder

:confused: I am curious about your source for this data point. There is good scientific data to support cooler air giving more HP, but coolant temp? And how would you support that with testing, that's a pretty small number to try and measure, repeatedly.
The issue with coolant temp is trying to regulate the temperature of the cylinder head and combustion chamber. You want the head as hot as possible to keep as much heat of combustion to do work, push the piston, but not have hot spots which cause knock. Sure, Winston Cup motors run hotter, cubic money has been spent on those heads to optimize them. Stock LS1 heads, as cast, can't. If you run them a little cooler overall, you can eliminate hot spots, and the computer can all back spark timing, making more HP. :yesnod: :cheers: