160 degree thermostat

[Tuna]

I hope 160 is the right number but I was told 170 by someone that ought to know.
Either way, unless the temp is well below freezing, my car always warms up to the 170-175 range when very cold and in the 185-190 range when hot now. I can live with that.
One of these days, I'll do something about the 2003.

Later,

 

[vettered91]

I have the 160° stat in the LT1 and fans on at 192° off at 185° and it is running 185°-195 most of the time in city traffic and +- 178° high speed open road (+-100 miles p/h).

The temps down here are somewhere in the 60°-105° (winter & Summer)

The only time I see 160° is when the engine is on it´s way to the 180°s (in the City)

 

[G WIZ]

I have a couple of questions about keeping the coolant temp lower than stock in my vehicle. It sounds to me like the best way to do that would be to reprogram the chip to make the fans come on early even when the a/c is off. Here are my questions;

1. Where is the chip located? (99 coupe)

2. Who do you get to reprogram the chip?

Thanks

Sid....

 

[G WIZ]

Disregard, I found the answer. I now see that you have to purchase a programmer to the tune of $400 to $500. Is this right or is there a better way? If this is right I think I will let the thing run at the higher temps.

Thanks

Sid....

 

[vettered91]

Sid....

The price is +-$ 350.00 for a new one (hipertech power programmer) but you can always go to ebay... I dont know a better way but don´t melt your engine, gaskets, etc.

Good luck!

 

[G WIZ]

Your advice is well received vettered91. I am really not into doing alot of work/mods on my vehicle, I like it the way it is. I would just like to see it run cooler and maybe put a good exhaust system on it, Make it sound like it should. Other than that, I am very happy with it the way it is. I will check out ebay and I will take your advice and have somebody do it that knows how.

adios,

Sid....

 

[Vettelt193]

a lower thermostat does more than most people think...

even if you take a car that is sitting idle, with no airflow, a lower t-stat will make a difference. what it will do is slow the heating process down.

why? the whole point of a t-stat is to allow the engine to warm up fast, and stay warm. If you swap to a 160 degree t-stat then you allow the engine to start pumping the radiator coolant into the engine earlier. the cooler radiator coolant will slow the heating process down.

now move to real world driving since we don't just start our cars and let them sit there.

let's say you move along at 50 MPH. A 160 stat will allow your car to run cooler than the stock 195 at this speed. (this is considering that you have no problems with your cooling system). Now you slow down to a stand still. every degree cooler than 195 can almost be counted as 'bonus degrees' because to even equal your old 195 degree setup the car has to heat up to 195.

so, to make a long story short, you are at least buying time with the cooler t-stat. However, the only time it makes a difference is when you can get the car to run below your old t-stat temperature. as soon as you are running at or above the old temp, there is no advantage whatsoever until you can get the car up to speed to cool it down, or get the fans to come on to cool it down.

 

[Swang]

Go with the Hypertech Thermo Master Chip, 160 degree stat, and cooler temperature switch. I have an 84 with a single fan. Runs at 197 degrees. This is an engineered solution.

 

[handstjg]

vader86,

Did you reprogram the chip yourself, if so what unit worked for you? I live in the desert in Arizona and would like the ability to reprogram the chip myself. The more user friendly the programmer the better. The ability to change it back at emission time is a plus in this state. Our emissions’ testing has gotten very tough over the years. We seem to follow California's lead on this issue.

Thanks, Tom

 

[The Car Whisperer]

I'm running a 180 deg thermostat in my Vette. I tried a 160 and a 195. The 195 gave me runing temps in the 230+ range on a hot day. Higher temps made the engine knock on hard acceleration (full throttle). I dropped to a 160 deg and felt that the engine never really got hot enough, no engineering here, just didn't feel right when driving, I run a lot of short trips so I wanted it to get a bit warmer to make sure everything was warmed up well, I was also worried about elevated emissions. In Massachusetts we have serious emissions testing and I never wanted to chance the embarresment of a rejection sticker.
I now have settled on a 180 deg thermostat, fans set to come on at 200 and off at 180 and that's the temperature range the engine runs at, may creep up to 210 on a hot day with the AC on in traffic, but the fans will usually get that under control in short order. Bringing the engine temp down helped the knock situation also, no more knock on hard acceleration. Also, I don't have a Dyno or anything but, after you've been driving the same car for 10 years you know when it is running better or worse from any mods you have done. It definitely runs better with the 180 deg thermostat and lower kick-in temps for the fans. I've been running this combo for the last 4 years, no problems, passes emissins testing with flying colors. Just my 25 cents!
This is what worked for me, it may work for you, or it may not.

 

[hawaii-5-lo]

hey GWIZ,
i also have a 99.you dont need a programmer to change the settings,i will never touch my car with one of those,there are several different adjustable controls avalible through the vendors on this forum,about half the price too.later,Todd.

 

[iron cross]

This thread ought to be retired. lets go to the,:bar

 

[vetteboy86]

Hey guys I have an 86 roadster. I put a 160 thermostat, and have the fans on at 175. The car runs cooler. coolant temps from 165 to 180 even in town, and oil temps hardly ever going over 210 on the hottest days. I know this works because it has worked on my car for at least a year now. The only way to know is to do it, and I have the proof. Dont let anybody tell you different about this matter because my car runs cooler.