160* gets my vote every time! it will stay around 176* with a 160* cruising.

 

If you get the 160*, make sure to get your fans reprogrammed. Mine runs ~174*-176*.

 

Isn't the stock fan 180*... 4* difference?

 

Sorry... my car runs ~174*-176* coolant temp wise. before the 160* thermo and fan change, it ran closer to 200*.

 

i have 160 stat already
but joe kizzire is selling 172 stats and some people where asking what where the diffrences and Joe is suppose to chime in here when he sees the post.

I have Ls1edit, but what are some good settings with the 160 stat?

thanks

 

Personally, although I use HPP3 for 160o fan settings, I still installed a manual fan switch for city cruise or to cool down after a run. Once the Autometer climbs over 180o, ON they go.

 

maybe a 172 would be better to make sure the car gets into closed loop faster

it goes into loop at 172, right?

 

Nope, it goes into close loop alot earlier than that. It won't matter which you have as far as closed loop is concerned. A 160 should make a tinsy tiny bit more power and a 172 might suit some folks a tinsy tiny bit better in the winter time (for heating purposes only.) I like a 160.

 

Sorry about being so slow about getting back to you guys. I've been out of town. First of we need to understand how and what a thermostat does. A thermostat determines the minimum operating temp of the engine. Once the engine reaches specified temp and the themostat fully opens it's the size of the radiator, fans settings and ambient temperature that determines the max temp of the engine.

With that said the T-stats I mod are fully open at 172 degrees and depending on the three factors I listed above this is the minimum temperature the engine will operate under normal conditions.

The 160 degree thermostats being sold are marketed that way to match the settings in the power programmer but actually start opening at 160 and are fully open by 172 the same as the one I mod.

Steal your wifes cooking thermometer and boil you some water drop your t-stat in, wait until it's fully opened and them turn the heat off. Moniter the temp reading of the thermometer and watch the t-stat close. You'll then find out what temp t-stat you have.

The minimum my car runs at road speeds with the ambient temps at 50 degrees is 172. So I say it's a 172 degree t-stat.

I hope this helps you out.

 

So are you saying the 160 T-stats being sold operate almost exactly the same as your 172's??


QUOTE: "The 160 degree thermostats being sold are marketed that way to match the settings in the power programmer but actually start opening at 160 and are fully open by 172 the same as the one I mod.


Or...is there any difference in yours vs. a 160?


Thanks for your input!

 

I have 160* without tuning i saw the fun different

Good luck

 

 

It seems there is a lot of misunderstanding about thermostat ratings. the temp. rating of a thermostat is where it BEGINS to open, not the temp. at which it is fully open. A 160 deg. thermo usually will not be fully open until 172 deg, as was explained. So the minimum the engine is going to run at after warm-up is 172.
I tested my stock t-stat, and it was not fully open until about 197.

 

My stock t-stat is around 196-197 too. When do you have you fans programmed to come on and off with a stock stat?

Mike