160 degree thermostat

ROGELIO A GUZMAN · Sep 26, 2020

Hey guys. I recently replaced my water pump. it was leaking from behind the pulley. so I replaced it and also added a 160-degree thermostat. was that a good idea. runs fine, no overheating or nothing. im also waititng on my mishimoto radiator to arrive. any backfeed on the 160-degree thermo would be good. the thermo is also a mishimoto.

iamdub · Sep 26, 2020

Unnecessary and won't really do anything good. Cooler isn't always better. Modern engines are designed to run at higher temps. They need to reach a certain minimum operating temp to more completely burn off the fuel. Otherwise, it may eventually gunk up the combustion chambers. Also, when the weather gets colder, you may get codes/SES light for the engine coolant being below threshold temperature (taking too long to warm up). The reduced efficiency can reduce fuel economy and the excess hydrocarbons in the exhaust can clog up the catalytic converters.

swathdiver · Sep 26, 2020

ROGELIO A GUZMAN said:
Hey guys. I recently replaced my water pump. it was leaking from behind the pulley. so I replaced it and also added a 160-degree thermostat. was that a good idea. runs fine, no overheating or nothing. im also waititng on my mishimoto radiator to arrive. any backfeed on the 160-degree thermo would be good. the thermo is also a mishimoto.

Some day I'm going to split the difference, get a 174 thermostat. Yeah, I hear all the stories from well respected individuals like Chris and BlackBear but the old racer in me remembers what those 160s did back in the day, even with the 1980s computer cars. Then I know of a few guys with our modern trucks running cooler thermostats with no ill effects and also keeping their engine oil and transmission temps lower than if they were running the stock 187s.

OR VietVet · Sep 27, 2020

All I was taught as I came up thru the ranks years ago, after the computers were all the norm in vehicles, 1980, was that the thermostat should remain the factory recommended temp to allow for closed loop to occur when it is supposed to at the right temp. Still means the same thing today, as @iamdub has said. Experimenting may not make that much difference but I believe it also effects the fuel mileage and helps keep the O2 sensors cleaned up and therefore the cats as well.

iamdub · Sep 27, 2020

I like the idea of splitting the difference. I know engineers have to give and take to strike balances between all sorts of variables to meet stringent guidelines. I'm certain one of those variables is a higher operating temperature. I believe a mildly cooler thermostat would be perfectly fine and maybe even justified, especially if you ran your engine hard.

avalonandl · Sep 27, 2020

Roy, if you are in the frozen north in winter 160 will be to cool.

Mudsport96 · Sep 27, 2020

I know fuel injection is different than a carb application, but if your vehicle is flex and you plan on running corn liquor you should keep the factory stat. I've seen cooler engine temps cause issues with complete combustion on e85

ROGELIO A GUZMAN · Sep 27, 2020

Well guys. By popular demand. I guess I'm swapping the 160 to a stock one. Thank you for the info.

OR VietVet · Sep 28, 2020

I look at it this way. The engineers and engine people design things a certain way for a reason. If there is a TSB or a Recall that says to do different, then do it, but if not, stay the course.

160 degree thermostat

ROGELIO A GUZMAN

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iamdub

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swathdiver

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OR VietVet

Multnomah Falls

iamdub

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avalonandl

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Mudsport96

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ROGELIO A GUZMAN

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OR VietVet

Multnomah Falls

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