Travose21

iTrader: (22)

I want my car to stay cold without a supercharger or turbo. what can i do and what is the best temp to run on a ls1 motor. is it the colder the better or what, I am not really experienced in this but i want my car to run the best at what temp. Please help

Travose21

iTrader: (22)

will a 160 theremostat be good or keep it stock or what please help

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

In my experiance, for a stock to mildly modded LS1, I'd say to keep the temps in the 190-205 degree range at all times. This can be done with a stock T-stat and custom fan programing. That might sound hot to you, but keep in mind that with stock fan settings LS1s can easily get into the 230 degree range at idle or during stop and go traffic in hot weather...now that is too hot IMO.

I've found that running my stock to bolt-on + cam LS1s any cooler than 190 just doesn't seem to have any benifit towards power. Of course, aggressive timing tables, high(er) compression, or blower/turbo applications can/will be different.

LS1Aggie09

iTrader: (25)

it won't hurt anything by putting a 160 or 190 degree thermo in with living way deep in the south in real hot climates? (not to hijack the thread)

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

If you just put in a 160 stat with no fan reprograming, you'll only see cooler temps when the car is moving at steady speeds. It'll still climb to the same high temps as stock at idle or during stop and go driving.

Personally I just don't see the need for a 160 stat on a stock to mild LS1, because I've tried it and saw no gains. Just my experiance.

natronathon

Reprogramming the fans is a crucial step. Ever since I did (stage 1- 175 & stage 2 185) the car never gets over 196 degrees while sitting at a stop. Once and awhile it will hit 200 right after i go to WOT, but it cools down around 100mph

Shallow Bay

iTrader: (3)

What do you suggest setting the fans to?

natronathon

I'd reccomend having the fans come on to the point where the 2nd stage operation (highest setting) is initiated before the Thermostat is completely open (around 195). Have the 1st stage come on before that. I gave the first stage around a 10 degree window before turing on the second stage... here's my exact setting...

Stage 1
on: 175
off: 170

Stage 2
on: 185
off: 175

This pretty much guarantees that my fans will be on when im at a stop and the car is at operating temp. Through HP tuners it is also possible to have the fans shut off after the car reaches a certain speed. in my case this is set at 35 mph.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The stock stat is an 86C unit (186F).


I like settings that look something like this (for a stock t-stat):

Low Speed on at 204/off at 194
High Speed on at 214/off at 205

With these settings, you see the normal operating temps stay in the 194-204 range about 95% of the time, unless the outside temp is really hot or you're in heavy traffic for extended periods of time.

Z28LS1camaroguy

iTrader: (3)

mine is set at 180 and i have stock thermostat but i have it tuned and fans come on a 180 so it never reaches anything above that, even in this 90+ heat and the humidity is unbearable.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Have you verified that with an OBD scanner?

If your coolant actually maintains a consistant 180 temp on an accurate scanner, then you don't have a stock t-stat (or if it is stock, it's been shimmed). I've owned 3 LS1 cars now, and all three stock stats never would maintain a temp lower than 190 no matter how much I ran the fans or how cold it got outside. Sure, the stock stat starts to open in the low-mid 180s, but it's just not open enough to maintain a temp as low as 180 after inital warm-up.

Z28LS1camaroguy

iTrader: (3)

i have a 98 and it has the real temp gauge in it so i trust what it says, and my tuner also told me what the fans were set and all that.

Hoss Ghoul

iTrader: (2)

Never a bad idea to run a bottle of "water wetter" as well...race cars run straight water with water wetter...obviously you'll want coolant, but water wetter is a worthwhile, and cheap, coolant aid.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I have a '98 as well, and my gage shows about 180 also, but my scanner shows a real temp of about 194. The '98 temp gage does 'work' (meaning it shows movement in temp unlike the '99+), but it's not going to give you an exact reading like a scanner will.

Again, if you have a stock stat, you're not going to be able to get the temps as low as 180 regardless of the fan settings......

BLKWS.6

Water wetter didnt do **** for me imho.

Z28XTC

iTrader: (5)

And if you have a 160 stat what should you set your fans to?

Giddswat

iTrader: (13)

How do you reprogram the fan settings?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

You need some sort of tuning device. Either custom tuning software (LS1 Edit, HP tuners), or a hand-held programmer (HPP3, etc.).

Other option would be to get a manual fan switch. Then you can cut the fans on and off whenever you want, but it can be a pain to have to do that all the time.

senicalj4579

iTrader: (41)

ok, i programed my fan setting to 190 with my handheld. would i benifit from a 160 t-stat as well? what would useing a 160 t-stat do along with my fan setting at 190?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

It would cause your car to run at/near 190 while in stop and go traffic or at idle. At steady cruise (such as on the expressway) it would likely drop into the 17x range as the high, constant speeds will be forcing a lot of air across the radiator.