Doncan

I own a 2008 chevy corvette i recently changed the thermostat to a 160 degree thermostat i was driving it yesterday and hit a dip the temperature guage stopped working and the car began to display on the dash "engine hot turn off A/C" but car was fine not hot at all and working fine drove it for a bit stopped removed battery and everything went back to normal!! today it is doing it again but nothing is wrong with car except for temp gauge not working and that message on dash What could it be???????? any help

davekp78

Probably air in the system. Burp it.

JUIC3D

The temp sensor is located in the driver's side head, just above the exhaust manifold. It's a round, 2 wire sensor nestled in between the block and the alternator. You could check to see if it's plugged in and seated correctly. You could also burp the system yourself and be 100% sure the air is gone.
It will make a little bit of a mess but you can put a shop rag or towel under the crossover pipe to minimize it.

1) Remove rubber hose from crossover tube located under the throttle body. The tube connect the left and right cylinder heads with the cooling system.

2) Remove overflow hose from rear of coolant tank and connect 3/8" fuel line. It looks like a corrugated tube that is right next to the fill cap.

3) Blow through the attached fuel line until a solid flow of coolant comes out of the crossover tube.

4) Reconnect rubber crossover hose to the crossover tube as soon as coolant starts to flow.

5) Recheck coolant level in the reservoir as it might need to be topped off once the air bubble is gone.

Doncan

i was told by a local speed shop that the corvette ls3 cannot use a 160 degree thermostat because the corvette monitors the amount of time it takes vehicle to warm up and if it is off it sends error codes.. do you know any 2008 vettes that run a 160 thermostat without these issues

JUIC3D

I sure do--mine

Doncan

did u have any tuning done to it so it would work with it

Doncan

i already had the code cleared it was a low coolant code which is being set off

Doncan

and again today same issue but car runs fine

JUIC3D

It is tuned, yea. I've never heard of anyone without a tune having issues installing a cooler thermostat though.

I wouldn't install a 160* though. I think 180* is the perfect balance for performance.

160 is too cold
195(stock) is too hot

180 is just right

JUIC3D

The LS3 does not have a coolant level sensor. It uses an advanced algorithm to determine how quickly the motor is reaching operating temperature and then calculates the coolant level based upon that.

I get the "check coolant" message on the DIC every once in awhile but it does not adversely affect the performance. I simply hit reset and move on.

Doncan

ok thanks ill switch it to a 180 see how that goes for now im gonna go back to stock car ran good for a weekend with the 160 then temp outside got cooler and these issues started

Doncan

my vette is pretty stock have exhoust with hpipe run cutouts no headers yet a ram air kit with a k/n ran a 1280 on stock tires

Doncan

for the reset button does car have to be in park on or off in accesorie mode?

JUIC3D

I'm not sure. My car is a manual and whenever it chimes and says "check coolant level" on the display, I hit reset and it goes away. It only happens occasionally--maybe once every 4-6 months.

Doncan

i was thinking of one thing this wouldnt explain the engine hot code though im gonna check the car for trapped air like u said see how that goes i appreciate your help ive called everywhere and no one could give me this much advice thanks

C6RaceCar

I still to this day dont understand why people want to use a different thermostat. In the tune, one of the big parts that gets changed by default is what temp the fans come on at, and the speed they run at those temps. All this stuff gets changed when you get an aftermarket tune, and there is completely NO need for the t-stat. The factory one works perfectly when paired with a properly setup custom tune. This is tuning 101 for our cars. My last LS2 C6 had a blower with headers and made 570rwhp. That car would almost never get over 195* even sitting idling at the track completely heat soaked in the summer. A 160 t-stat is like a placebo mod. Granted it would help if you have no tune. But with all the hassle, it would make more sense to just get the tune.

redrckt97

take this good advise ... you have air in the system

0jhaines

The temperature too hot related problem that was originally described in the beginning of this thread and erratic gauge readings would not be related to the use of a low temperature thermostat itself.

If the system was not properly refilled and purged of air after the thermostat was installed it could possibly cause this to occur but that would be the same as if you installed a new stock temperature thermostat.

The only engine diagnostic code a 160 degree thermostat will possibly set is a P0128, Engine Coolant Temperature Below Thermostat Regulating Temperature code. This rarely happens and, when it does, it normally only happens in fairly low ambient temperature conditions. This code does not impact the coolant temperature sensor gauge.

P0128 has existed on the Corvette (and most other vehicles) since the 2001 model year.

Also, as a side note, the LS3, LSA and other more recent Gen IV V8 engines use a 86 deg C / 187 deg F thermostat, not a 195 degree thermostat.