Not true whatsoever. By itself, the only effect is that the car takes longer to warm up. However when used in conjunction with aftermarked PCM coolant fan programming or a fan switch, it can keep temps down significantly.
Once the thermostat is open coolant flows. Once it starts flowing it's going to continue to heat up until the heat is exchanged by the cooling fans/radiator.
Didn't read the whole thread past my post I see. Otherwise you'd have read what Caprice said.
Now, I'm not saying Caprice was agreeing with me totally, as I'm clearly the one he's implying is an ignorant kid (which I'm neither, and it's odd he never mentions his age, funny huh?). And I'm in no way implying that a lower TStat is going to provide 1000hp, or even 20hp, but in conjunction with other mods it will help quite a bit. I have yet to install my 160, but since I anticipated installing one I preset my fans to turn on lower (which clearly wasn't low enough according to Tony Shephard, he glanced over it) and with them turning on @ 180F and 190F respectively, my running temp is down to 192-198F. Typical LT1s run 225-235F, so just doing fans dropped the temp, which is only part of the mod in installing a lower TStat. So with that, had I installed the 160, my temps would be much lower. Now please (myltwon) don't try to tell me that a TStat won't lower your temps any, it's just not true. Yea, if the fans don't turn on, it'll run just as hot as a stock Tstat or even a 195.
Do the mod, or don't do the mod, it all doesn't matter to me. Similarly, believe me or not, makes little difference on my side. If running a hot motor, having hot air in it and hot fuel as well was of little consequence, then drag racers wouldn't ice down their motors between runs. Nor would they specifically make a fuel cooler that pumps your fuel through a canister that you can put dry ice in.
we were talking about installing a thermo, resetting the fan settings was not part of the original discussion, the point you were trying make was based soley on the thermostat itself
I was never trying to make the point that a 160 thermo will make or break a car, just saying it's not a real mod like many people new to car modding mistake it for. yes it ALLOWS the car to operate cooler but that is in conjunction with pcm tuning
__________________ 1994 Trans Am GT A4 - 383, LE custom cam, HPS ported heads/intake, Formato tuned, etc.
A stock stat is 180 and the car operates in the 190s as seen by the pcm, but somehow your feeble mind gets hung up on the stat rating and sees a 40 degree drop from a 20 degree stat temp change????? You are not exhibiting competent ration thought, just trying to blindly reenforce your baseless opinion.
I was posting incomplete thoughts at the time, had it been earlier in the day I would've better explained myself
what I meant is with the factory fan settings the stock thermostat is better suited, and with the factory fan settings a 160 thermo does nothing but prolong the warmup of the car (not by any great means whatsoever). the motor will continue to increase in heat once the thermo opens up at the same rate no matter what thermostat you have installed until the fans turn on
with coinciding pcm tuning you can reap whatever benefits a 160 thermo has to offer
__________________ 1994 Trans Am GT A4 - 383, LE custom cam, HPS ported heads/intake, Formato tuned, etc.
Then I apologize as I was under the impression it was common knowledge for vehicles with computer controlled fans (or even sensor controlled) to adjust them relative to the TStat temp being used. With that being said, I was basing my discussion around them being a hand-in-hand mod.
When i switched thermostats and the tuned pcm for the thermostat i noticed a big difference in temp at the track while sitting in staging. Otherwise the difference in the city and highway wasnt all that much.
__________________ 1997 camaro z28 30th Anv. <3
- Not stock, but too close to stock for my likings
Assuming you're making back to back runs, but are sitting in the staging lane, it's not much different than city driving. Light to light might be longer in city, but you make that up by doing a 1/4mi @ WOT.
A while back, I read somewhere that some guy tried to prove this T-stat myth by lowering intake charge temps. He did this by taking an LT1 motor and doing consecutive dyno pulls on the factory t-stat: one pull with factory equipment, and one pull with the intake freezing with dry ice. I don't remember any specifics, but the final conclusion was no gain in horsepower. I wish I had a link. Maybe someone can find it with Google.
__________________ 1997 Trans Am WS.6 M6 ___ See All My Rides
Full Bolt-ons/Free Mods | Cam/Valvetrain | Full Exhaust | Mild Suspension | Flamethrowers | LS1 Front Brakes | Hurst B/P | Many Int/Ext Appearance Mods
Maybe it's just my car but I'm running a 180 t-stat and when I'm cruising I cannot get any heat which is a pita but once I stop for awhile then it gets warmer. Is that normal ?
check your coolant level, if all of a sudden u lose heat the level is probably too low, happens all the time
My two cents, every LT1 Ive ever had likes to run extremely hot period. Unless you force the engine to run cooler (t-stat, fans, pump, etc.) it will operate anywhere from 180 to what looks like 240-250 to me. My '96 in avatar when stock would run mid 13s @ 160* or below, and as slow as 14.4 @ 200*+ so whoever doesnt believe a cooler running engine runs faster is retarded. Never been impressed with "reverse cooling".
I know Im bringing this back from the dead...but I just got a '94 Z....anybody have the Stant part # for a 160 stat??
__________________
'00 TA M6-Free Mods Best ET-1.96 60, 8.28 @ 87.26, 12.77 @ 109.62
It's only 11pm at the latest in the US lol
1997 Trans Am WS.6 M6 ___ 
