I GOT A 160 THERMOSTAT IN THE OL WS-6 BUT I NEVER GOT THE FANS SET TO TURN ON AT THAT TEMP. HOW MANY HP WILL A GAIN IF SHE IS RUNNING AT 160.
WE WILL GO OUT RACING ALL NIGHT AND THE FANS WILL NEVER TURN ON BECUASE SHE ALWAYS STAYS COOLER THAN THE STOCK SETTING.
IF I GET 2 OR MORE IM WILLING TO PUT THE FAN SWITCH IN.
SO WILL I MAKE ANY MORE WHEN IT IS COOLER OR NOT??

 

I had the same thing in my WS6. I don't know how much power but I can say that if you sit in a staging lane or traffic you car will get hotter than 210 with a stock thermo. I have seen 220-230's under more extreme conditions and everytime that happened at the track I would knock like crazy and it would pull timing and put me in the low octane tables.

I can now up my timing and absolutely no timing gets pulled. I did that in conjuction with some other mod (oh.. ported the TB) and it seemed to get me about 1 and .5 mph

That is with some Edit work to jack the timing as well but it was the first time it acutally allowed me to run that much timing with no knock.

 

The stock thermostat and fan settings are insane. Everybody says that 180 degrees is the ideal temperature, and a 160 degree stat is too cold. Your car will never run at 160 degrees. Your fan settings will put you right around 180 degrees. The stock stat is like 195, and the fan settings will let you run all the way up to 230ish. Don't do the cooler stat without tuning for it though. The cooler intake charge is not the only benefit (if any). The stat *may* allow you to run more timing without detonation, which could make even more power.

 

You can modify the tstat with a BB in the housing to reduce the opening temp from 195* to 160*. Then get a Hayden thermostaticly controlled fan switch and set it to turn on at about 175*. This should keep your actual temp at about 180*(ideal) instead of the about 210-220 with the stock setup. Cooler motor + PCV catch can + !EGR should make for more power across the power band due to increased timing (less knock retard). FYI, your A/C should work better as well.

 

Thats true. I just got nervous when I thought about modifying a part like the thermostat. But the write-ups do make it look easy to do. I noticed a big difference when I removed EGR too, but I think it really helps the most if you have a cam that is already leaving exhaust gasses behind in the cylinder.

 

Beware of this "BB" mod, it seems to be based on an
earlier thermostat design that is not the same as I
found on my '02. On my 'stat the BB made it basically
open all the time, I had to use a much thinner shim
to get to the desired 180-ish ECT and the control
range was way sloppy (ECT swing > 15 degrees w/
engine load).

I ended up going with the Hype-tech 160 which at
least works like a real thermostat.

You will be able to push a little more spark with
cooler ECT and more importantly, you will be able
to tune it "closer to the bone" if you know for sure
that your ECT will always be 175-180, than just
"somewhere between 190 and 230".

I did not notice any reduction in economy but do
see pinging come on under circumstances where ECT
is not held down (like too hot out, with A/C on, and
the radiator + fans do not suffice). Note that the rad
has to be kept below the thermostat setpoint or else
the 'stat is just a sloppy orifice. This is harder to keep
satisfied at (say) 160F tank temp than (say) 180F;
with 120+ air temps on the pavement, your delta-T
to dump radiator heat is only 40F rather than 60F
(and forget about it if you're running the air). Us
Southron boys have a hard time in July.

BTW, !EGR does -not- make power. Cutting back the
little pecker to open up the throat, might. Switching
to a later manifold, might (if you have the cam / heads
/ exhaust to start challenging intake airflow). But the
EGR action itself, is off when you are at high MAP like
WOT. EGR only improves economy at light throttle and
otherwise, is just excess plumbing. Better to shave off
the stupid bits and keep EGR, if you are keeping the
LS-1 intake manifold; it's a minor bonus in non-performance
ways without any real penalty at the big end.

 

ummm, well, so will i gain a couple horse or not.
I already have the ls6 intake g5x3 cam ported heads throttlebody and mass air.full exhuast, no emmisions, juice and all that. i just wanna know if it is worth it to put in the switch so my car runs cooler.

 

I would, my cars coolant was up to 223* earlier this summer after sitting for a little while. Were you in Hudson last night ~8PM blubyeu? I saw an NBM TA.

 

I think !EGR can make power on cammed cars. If you have a lot of reversion already it will definitely help to get rid of the EGR, because your mixture can be too diluted. But I am not really an expert...

 

In short, will you make more power with a cooler ECT? Not necessarily. If the IAT is still fairly low and you dont have any pinging issues, then no you wont. Ideally, you want to run the motor fairly warm and still keep the incoming air cool...The engine is actually more efficient when its hot. I run mine at about 190* BTW with a slightly modded stock thermo and reprogrammed fan settings.