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195 Degree Thermostats

Joined
Mar 9, 2009
Messages
1,026
Location
Yemen
I have always run 195 degree thermostats but two years ago I decided to try a 180 degree just to see how I felt about it. It was in the dead of winter when the morning temperatures can hit 15 degrees and I quickly found out how BAD my heater worked with the 180 degree thermostat. With the 195 degree thermostat my heater was doing a pretty good job within 5 miles but with the 180 degree thermostat it took a whole 10 miles to get my interior warm enough to suit me.
 
I have always run 195 degree thermostats but two years ago I decided to try a 180 degree just to see how I felt about it. It was in the dead of winter when the morning temperatures can hit 15 degrees and I quickly found out how BAD my heater worked with the 180 degree thermostat. With the 195 degree thermostat my heater was doing a pretty good job within 5 miles but with the 180 degree thermostat it took a whole 10 miles to get my interior warm enough to suit me.

I don't believe my Vette would stay at 180* during the summer around here, or I would run a 160. Solution? DON'T your car in the winter!
 
I didn't like the 180 degree thermostat at all in winter use because it took such a long time for my heater to warm my cabin. At least 10-12 miles and even then it wasn't warm enough to suit me. As my cooling system will heat to 210 degrees on a 100 degree day in stop-and-go traffic with the A/C on I see no point in running a cooler thermostat. Not where I live anyway because it'll vary 100 degrees from winter to summer. And I replace my thermostats every 5 years or so to ensure I never have any thermostat failures. I find it really odd that people will readily spend hundreds of dollars on a new intake or camshaft or roller rockers but not change their $7 thermostat every few years.
 
Here we go again with stuff that defies physics, first person experience and common sense.

First- 15*F/-9C is hardly 'cold'. Trust me. It goes down to -25F/-30C here. That's 'cold'.

A 180 thermostat opens 15* lower than a 195 and accordingly, heat is supplied to the cabin that much sooner. No idea why your car is the opposite

The cabin on my car with a 180 thermostat is toasty warm in no time at all and within minutes I have to reduce the heat setting and fan speed.

All GM cars, not just Corvette, came equipped with a 180 thermostat for decades, up until the 'smog' era prompted the need for hotter running engines. I've never heard of anyone mentioning the lack or delay of cabin heat.
 
The Corvette cockpit is small enough that it doesn't take long to warm it up in winter, with a 180* or 195* t'stad. Don't know about Canada, but here in Texas, in dead of winter, put top down, crank up the heater and drive on.
 
I've never heard of anyone mentioning the lack or delay of cabin heat.


Well, now you have! A 15 degree increase in coolant temperature going thru the heater core makes a BIG difference when the interior of the car is only 20-25 degrees. Until the interior parts get warmed up they absorb heat. Same goes with a 150 degree interior when you turn the A/C on. It takes time to cool the interior parts down and until then they radiate heat into the air inside the cabin.
 
I have run 180* T stats in my C2 & C3's without any issues at all. I drove my DD 69 vert through CT winters and never had to wait longer then the engine getting warm to have plenty of heat. I think about 75 they moved up to 190-195* Stats for emissions along with choked exhaust and retarded timing.
 

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