TGiuliante

I just had a 180 thermostat installed in my 2007 Z. The computer was re tuned given the new thermostat. My motor which has not been on the track yet runs at 190 - 195. Since then my fan runs constantly. I spoke to the shop and the told me that the fan is a Pulse modulated fan which will run progressively until the motor gets to its operating temperature. This does not make any sense to me.

I would think using HP tuners i could code the computer to kick the fan on at a certain operating temp.

Is this correct - what should I do?

wtknght1

Most good tuners can program the computer either to turn on the fan whenever you want...or turn it off. There's not too many things a good tuner can't control on the new cars now. Take it Phoenix Performance...Joe and his guys can set it up how you want...no sweat.

ipuig

Why would you want the operating temperature to be below 190?

TGiuliante

When I run at the track the engin temps seem to get up there so I want to keep them down a bit. with the 180 car seems to run at 195. I just want to get the fan to kick on after that

AU N EGL

there should be more then enough air going through the radiator.

Did you try cleaning out the radiator ?

TGiuliante

yes i flushed it - all fresh fluid

AU N EGL

Not only flush but clean the dirt out of the radiator fins.

TGiuliante

No. that is a good point but that would not explain why my fan would run constantly. it did not before I put the 180 thermostat in - I had a stock thermostat in the car.

gkmccready

The fan running all the time is part of the tune you got, nothing to do with the thermostat. IIRC, on my C6 the fan doesn't even kick on until 235F or so with the stock tuning.

VetteDrmr

Lower temp thermostats have zero to do with keeping your engine cooler on track. The t'stat setting identifies the coolest setting the engine will run at after warmup. The stock t'stat is fully open when you're on the track.

Now, on to your fans. That's controlled completely by your tune. Whether or not they need to come on when you're running at high speed on the track is something I don't fully understand. Some want the fans off because if the airflow through the radiator is faster than the fans can pull then running the fans actually hinders airflow, not to mention the additional electrical/heat load. I don't know if it's actually possible to get the airflow through the radiator fins to exceed the fans or not, though.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

Kanmer

I am not even sure why you would need a retune just for a t-stat. All your doing is allowing it to open sooner to allow cooling sooner. Fans have nothing to do with t-stat. Fans should not even come on at any speed over 35mph otherwise they are counterproductive as stated earlier. Take it back and tell them to put the other tune back in.

Bob

2000BSME

retune for a tstat? That's ridiculous.

I have HPTuners and I can control the on/off temps of each of my two fans. I have them to come on around 220* or so and turn off around 215*, iirc. I wouldn't overthink this if I were you. It's really not a big deal. Just buy HPTuners yourself and do what you want. You will surely change your mind occasionally, depending on what kind of racing/drag racing or street driving you do.

I hope that helps, but really, don't overthink it. You don't want your engine running below 180* for sure, and you would like to keep it below 235* on the high end for performance reasons.

mgarfias

I'm about to (when I get around to tearing the car open) swap back in my OEM tstat. XMS in tempe, az only had a 160deg tstat when I went to get a new one (wanted a 180), so I went with that. And its too damned cold.

It was fine in phoenix in the summer, and the engine with the big radiator wanted to run about 185-190 (in stop and go or moving). But I'd have been fine with a 180-195 tstat. There is no reason to run something colder than 180. And, even in phoenix in the non-summer it wasn't a good choice.

When its not 115 out though, the cold tstat doesn't do anything for you. Engine temps never go above 170, the PCM bitches about tstat performance, and it won't lean the mixture down so my gas milage sucks.