David426

I'm fixing to install a 180 degree stat to replace the stock one. It looks like a very simple job, however I have never seen a thermostat located in such a position on any car I have ever owned. Most thermostats are on top of the engine block and coolant loss is minimal if any at all when changing thermostats. I guess I will need a pan to catch all the coolant on this change. Or is there a better way??

Special K

This was posted by Evil Twin.

"I change my stat twice a year. spring 160f stat....and fall stat 190f..
I takes less than five minutes to replace the stat.... I loose less than a pint of coolant... Ive done this ten times without any issues... no air and no other problems... The car is cold and there are no problems with heated coolant...
It's slide up the radiator hose clamp..
remove the radiator hose and tuck it under the heater hose
the stat is close (Cold Engine) so you will lose no water,
take one housing bolt out of the housing.. put some anti sieze on it...
Have the new housing and stat with the O ring greased in place.

Now press the stat towards the engine with one hand and remove the other housing bolt with the other..
grab the newe stat and with one motion remove the old stat and put on the new one applying pressure towards the engine block.. this is the only time you will lose any coolant.. the eachgange takes ten seconds.... now grab the bolt that you applied th anti sieze too and put it in and tighten it alittle.. this will hold the stat in place. put some anti sieze onthe other bolt . torque to spec and replace the hose and the clamp... run engine check coolant level."

Bob

Cajundude

That is pretty much how I did it. You can see pics here .

see5

Yeah, just plan ahead and be fast.

Special K

Hi Jason. You ready to move to Florida? I still have a lot of work for you.

Bob

Cajundude

Sure for $100-150K/year I'll move there and work on your car everyday.

BTW, I'll have a new write up for long tubes in the next day or so. Finishing them up tonight.

David426

Good stuff! Thanks guys. Just one question. Whats the purpose of the anti-seize? Maybe I can learn something new, as I have never used this stuff. Thanks.. david

Cajundude

Aluminum has the tendency to "weld" itself together/or to other metals. It is just a precaution so the bolts want become stuck in there and the next time you take it out you simply snap the head off into the block.

Special K

I was thinking you move here, get a job and work on mine on the side.

Cajundude

Hmmm, lemme think about it.

phils C5 vette

i leave my 170 thermo in year round.

Darion

Good information, Thanks.

B Taylor

When would you need to reprogram when you change the thermostat? Should you also change your fan temps? Brian

Special K

It's a good idea to change them but you don't have to. In traffic or racing it would help keep the temps down.

Bob

George8211

.
.
Sounds like a good question for Evil Twin...


I beleive he is the current record holder of thermostat change outs.

Bruce1899

OK, swapping out the thermostat seems simple enough, what's involved in setting the fan on and off temps. Is this something that can be done without a degree from Mr Goodwrench?

leaftye

It's really simple to reprogram the fan settings if you have a programmer. I use HPTuners.

As for the reasons behind using two different thermostats, I believe the same fan settings can work both in the summer and winter, but a different thermostat should be used for people in colder climates. Look at changing the thermostat as changing the reserve cooling capacity of the cooling system. In the summer, you may run a 160° thermostat. With a 160° thermostat, the temps will rise quickly, and often over 160°, and should get high enough to evaporate any contaminants, but on the highway can drop down after a while. As a whole, temps may average around 180-190°, even with the fans set low. If the same thermostat were used in the winter, the temps may never get high enough to burn off contaminants, and when the temps dropped down during a highway cruise, it would take a long time for it to rise back up to 180°. I keep saying 180° because I think that's the beginning of the sweet spot for an engine that's already burned off the contaminants. Even though I have a big radiator, oil cooler, reprogrammed fans, and a low temp thermostat, I still force my temps to get above 200° everytime I drive to help burn off contaminants. I do this with a mild warm up period, and once up to the 180°, I'll drop down a gear or two to get temps up, and after maintaining higher temps for a while, I'll allow my temps to drop again. Now that I live in San Diego, where it's easy to get the coolant temps up year-round, I won't bother with different thermostats.

vetred

I put the 160* thurmostat five years ago and NEVER had any reason to change ,However even though I live only 180 miles from canada it realy doesnt get that cold hear that much,(Seattle) when it does I drive a truck! And I used the Hyper tech hand programer couse it worked for me and,.........the service is hard to beat

CVETTE98

The thermostat Quick change would work real good if your old o ring does not stick to the block part and then you make a mess by the time you get it off. Better than draining the whole Radiator though!

Mike Mercury

there is a lot of mis-information about this. Some bogus info keeps floating around - that there is no benefit to a lower temp thermostat in a C5 unless tyou reprog the fan temps.

It's totally false that there is "zero"; benefit... and it's also false to say there's "no usuable benefit" ; and I can only imagine that those spewing this falsehood don't understand how things work... and are relying on the info the other un-knowledgeable dude gave them.

Sure, you can maximize the lower temp t-stat performance by a fan temp reprog - but there is very usuable benefit without the prog too.