Larry

iTrader: (4)

I changed out my thermostat on my new 07 Corvette to a 160 last night. This may be redundant for some but the search feature isn't working for me right now so here goes. Everything went well until I tried to refill. Unlike my 98 Camaro, all I had to do was jack it up in the front and the fluid would run in just fine. Not so on the Corvette. I filled the surge tank with coolant in hopes it would drain into the engine/radiator. Didn't happen. Or at least that method would have take hours or who knows how long. What I did was pull the hose off the metal line that runs under the plenum. It's located just under the throttle body, drivers side. I then hooked up a hose to the metal line and ran it into a catch bucket. Turned my compressor way down to about 20 psi. Reinstalled the lid to my surge tank. Stuck my air nozzle onto the hose from the metal line. When I pressured it the fluid in the surge tank went right down and into the engine/radiator. Filled it up again and pressured again until fluid started to drained into the catch bucket. Sure made for a quick job and didn't have to start the engine to wait for the thermostat to open. Didn't have to take a chance of over heating it.

The factory thermostat had 86 degrees centigrade stamped on it. That's about 186.8 degrees F. Prior to installing the 160 I put both in a bucket of water and observed the temperature they opened. The 160 started cracking open, according to my little thermometer, around 168. The factory about 188 or 20 degrees higher. The 160 was full open at 178 according to the eyeball. The factory 198/200.

My engine reached 217 degrees idling with the factory thermostat. Little too warm in my books. The factory fan setting is a little on the high side. Of course now I will have to reset the fans or I've done nothing at idle to cool it. I have an HP Tuner on the way to take care of that.