pkvvette

Before I drop in the 160 degree thermostat and reset the fans to come on at lower temps, I'm curious if anybody has seen any performance changes. Other than the obvious reason for doing this (having the engine run cooler), will the car perform better, worse or same? Any problems with the way it runs with this setup? What about winter time driving, problems with getting enough heat into the car with the 160 thermo? It can get pretty cold around here in the winter. :flag

honas

Do a search. There is a ton of stuff on thermostats.

REW89

My car came from the previous owner with a 160 and I have no problems with getting enough heater in the winter down here in Atlanta. I tend to think that anything you do to keep a car engine cooler will help.

I have encountered no running problems whatsover either. Bob

Red Tornado

I did the same setup, and I can say it definitely runs better now in the dog days of summer :yesnod: I am very pleased with this very inexpensive (IMHO a good one) mod :cheers:

vader86

No problems in Upstate SC winters for me.

As far as performance, we have results that show that the 60' times and ETs drop when the engine is around 160F.

jfb

During one of the threads about 160 thermostats, one CFer actually changed thermostats when he was dynoing from his factory (180 or 195) to the 160 and reported no change in Hp. Seat of the pants or track times are not proof due to either no insturmentation or poor repeatability.

vvv90

It makes almost as much sense to say that Japanese stickers will add HP to say that a 160 T-Stat will :rolleyes:

It's not that kind of mod. Keeping the car running cooler makes it run better. PERIOD! Try running around in 100 degree weather at 235 degrees vs. the 180 degrees I have now and tell me you don't notice a difference.

BTW: the stock one is 180. Just leave it in and get the fans turned on lower. I only put the 160 in because I cruise now at 170 and keeping an s/c motor cool is more important for prevention. I'd tell you to do the Throttle body by-pass but if it gets cold you'll have to change it back every year which isn't really that much work anyway. Check out the C4 tech tips section.

:cheers:


[Modified by vvv90, 1:36 PM 7/15/2003]

apollo30346

I have a hypertech 160* stat and I still get above 200* setting in traffic....am I mising something.....did I do it wrong....I don't get it.....the stats work for you guys and not for me....I even did it 2 times just to rule out a bad stat...What am I missing?

zog

I guess I don't understand....if I put in a 160, doesn't that just mean that my thermostat opens sooner??? In hot stop and go traffic, the only way it would keep the engine cooler is if it opened farther, which it would not do!!

Consequently, the only benefit I see is that it would take the engine longer to heat up to 200+ degrees....what am I missing????? :confused: :confused:

Blue 92

The 160 stat only helps if you also reset the fan on/off points at the same time.

AllDreamsAreRed

This doesn't mean a whole lot... A person can simply change to slicks on the track and have shorter times at the track, yet yields 0 horses. I think it's more about putting horsepower to the ground than getting horsepower itself.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I read that a 160 thermo will not work by itself, that you have to download it to the computer (I have a '95)?? :confused: Since rule of thumb says downloading is the last thing to do, a thermostat seems to be one of the first mods people do. Anyone with enough experience to make an authoritative statement on this?

REW89

My 160 still does get above 200 when idling in good old Atlanta Traffic but once some speed is attained it drops back down. If I am on the Interstate on a hot day (ambient temp 90) but able to sustain 70 MPH the temps stay around 165-175. WInter time it stays at 160 unless realy stuck in bad traffic..............

Bob

Lone Ranger

Ken, just use the HPP+'s 180 stat fan settings in winter and it'll warm up fine. The 180 setting lets the coolant temp get to 211 or 212 before it turns on the fans.

Southern Comfort

has more to do with ambient temp than tstat or anything else. I have all the low temp goodies and a clean radiator and around vegas this time of year.....still run hot...I guess as long as the engine dosen't blow up your ok. go figure. :cool:

Red Rocket

Took out the 180 TS and put in the 160. Also put in manual toggle fan switch ( on/off) to turn on the fans whenever the ignition is on. Will probably set the computer to come on earlier than 185 also. Car runs 10-15 degrees cooler on the highway. In the staging lanes at the track, I run the fans all the time with the ignition on. Now launch at 165-175 after starting up one car from final staging. Use to be 185-195. Still evaluating but my ET/MPH stayed consistent last week when most guys lost time and MPH as the Texas heat went to 95+.
Also, have the Procooler on the intake.


[Modified by Red Rocket, 10:13 PM 7/15/2003]

jfb

Let me see if I can explain why 160 thermostats will not make your engine run cooler in the summer. Any thermostat only has several degrees F between starting to open and fully open. When fully open the thermostat no longer controls the coolant temperature because its control mechanism is controlling coolant flow with its butterfly valve and fully open, the coolant flows at maximum. If the radiator has a large enough heat transferring ability, then a 160 thermostat could keep your coolant at 160. The C4 vette has a radiator sized for a 195 or 180 thermostat when air passes through it at about 30-35 mph or higher. The stock radiator cannot transfer heat fast enough to maintain 160 and with maximum coolant flow the coolant temperature will settle at a temperature where the radiator gets rid of heat as fast as the engine is making it. A radiators ability to transfer heat is determined largely by the difference in temperature between the coolant and the ambient air passing through it. The larger the difference, the more heat the radiator can transfer. This is why at stoplights the temperature settles at 220 F with either a 160 or 195 thermostat. Both thermostats are wide open and no longer control the coolant temperature. At stoplights the coolant temp soars until the difference temp (coolant to air) gets high enough to allow the radiator to get rid of heat as fast as its made and then the coolant temp stops rising. When you get underway the coolant temp falls because more air moves through the radiator which is another factor in the radiators ability to transfer heat.
If you experience over 160 temps with a 160 stat, NOW you know why and you also know why a 160 stat isn't the cure to lower your summertime temps.

I own an L98 87 vette and I have a manual switch to turn on the fan which I do when I know the temp will rise (stoplights, slow traffic, etc). I have the stock 195 stat and with the factory waterpump it would go to 210-220. Last year I replaced the waterpump with a Stewart and now at stoplights it goes to 200 and quickly drops to 195 when I get underway ( the stock waterpump took much longer to drop due to lower coolant flow). I can't tell you what the temps do with a/c because I cannot keep my a/c working (its getting repaired AGAIN).

vvv90

Well mine settles at 175 and runs at 165 while cruising.....explain how that would be possible with a 195 T-stat ???

Simply putting in a 160 T-stat will not work! Turn the fans on and do the TB-bypass. A combination of all three will yield cooler temps.

89stock

my brother has a POS camaro that he just blew up, but he had the thermostat totally removed, what effect would this have on your temps?

SkunkCar

From what I'm reading, a 160 deg. thermostat can inhibit performance. To quote an article I recently read which discusses the idea of putting a 160 deg. thermostat in your C4:

"...if you do succeed in keeping it at 160 degrees, your car's computer will stay in the open loop mode which will limit, not raise performance."

This article can be read in its entirety at http://www.c4vettes.com/performance.htm and is, in fact, an excellent article on boosting performance of your C4.

vvv90

Then it's a good thing that you cannot get a C4 to run @ 160 w/ 160 T-stat :D

In a typical GM small block it would just take a really long time to get the engine up to operating temperature causing unecessary engine wear. On an LT-1 the thermostat actually blocks off a passage in the waterpump. I'm not sure what this does :confused: