I always believed that running it at that temp the combustion chamber never gets up to temp and doesn't burn correctly.

What are the reasons why you would run a 160º thermostat?


Jason

 

I'm sure someone will answer your question directly, until then I did a search.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...BA+thermostats
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...BA+thermostats
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...BA+thermostats
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...BA+thermostats
There is more out there, just a little to help you out. The 2nd one is very interesting.

 

Well I'm not going to claim to be an expert or anything. But my father has been rebuilding motors since he was 16. He absoulutly despises low thermostats saying that your motor never cleans itself properly. If they cant get to operating temperature then you end up dealing with all the carbon and what not. My car has a 160 stat and the computer is programmed so the fans turn on early. It never gets above 180 even on a 100 degree day sitting in traffic. Every time I get on it theres always black smoke. If I were to do it again I would probably do a 180 stat or even higher. Ive also heard it kills mileage...

 

Swap to a stock T-stat. They are 86C (186F) units. Reset the fans to cycle the temps between about 194-204. That's how mine is set, works great.

 

stay away from a low temp thermostat. you'll see really no performance gains worth mentioning. old motors needed low running temps because they were designed to run cool, and this perpetuates the low temp thermostat myth into today. in the world we live in now with strict emissions testing, motors are designed to run hot because they make less emissions when running hotter and are more efficient. in short, our motors simply aren't designed to run cool. you'll lose fuel economy, increase emissions and you won't properly burn all the moisture out of your oil since it doesn't get hot enough. your motor will clean itself less and run less efficiently. i've heard reports of losing 4mpg due to a low temp thermostat. skip this mod. if you wanna run cooler, lower the temp your fans come on a bit.

 

The premise behind running a cooler thermostat back in the day was you could add more timing without detonation when running cooler engine temps. Motors do tend to run more efficiently and produce less hydrocarbons at higher engine temps. That being said, I've had a 160 stat in my car since 15k miles. With my fans settings, the ECT stays between 177 and 182 degrees. I tore into the engine 5 yrs later at 60k miles and it was clean enough to eat off of. Never had any problems or mileage decrease related to the stat itself. Just my $.02.

 

I also got a 94 s15 4x4 4.3 CPI w/a 160 t-stat and I got 2 mpg more by running a cooler t-stat. Not to metion that the performance feels much better. I also run 89 octane fuel in it also because I get the best mileage than 87 or 93. Company or brand does not matter.