160* or 180* Thermostat?

I know this isn't intake or exhaust related but i wasnt sure where else to put it.

I've been looking into getting either a 160 or 180 degree thermostat for my 3.8 L. I was just curious if there were any advantages/disadvantages to either or if they were pretty much the same thing with a 20* difference. This car is my DD as of now too if that should affect my decision.

Also if anyone has any suggestions on the cheapest place to get one and how to install it that would be awesome as well. Thanks all.

[silver6_maro]

Ive got a 160, and i think there are a lot of guys that do too. I got mine from Travis (97rs4life), PM him...hes in the GVVS forum too (owner)

[97rs4life]

with a 99 you can go with the 160 and not have any problems yet. Some of the 01-02 cars will through a SES code with the 160* thermo.

Hypertech 160* thermos come with the instructions, it really isn't hard to change out thermos either, a couple bolts, and then bleed the air out a bit and you are good to go

[Thedon619]

I have a 160 on my LT1 and it works great, there a bit easyer to change on mine however the result should be the same a cooler running car.

[silvurburd]

Thanks guys my 160*'s in the mail. Do they make a noticeable difference in the way your car runs?

Also i talked to a friend who said that i would need to program my computer to make it work because my fan would still kick on at 210* or so? I may not have understood him completely but if anyone could help me clear this up it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[iroc85blu]

not really a noticeable differance going to a 160. And could set light as did in my 01 blown extreme s10. Code is insufficient operating temperatures. So i looked it up and can actually be harmful in terms of the engine is designed to be at a certain temperature for optimal life of engine. What i found out the hard way is by running to cool all the time the engine actually carbons up faster than normal and in time can actually hurt perfomance due to clogging intake ports. Its what happened in my extreme. It started getting really doggy so i took off the intake and cleaned it out than ran good again.

[silvurburd]

So now i just read this on v6Fbody.com and now i'm just confused lol. Is this gonna do more bad than good or nothing at all? Any help on whats true and whats not would be sweet. Thanks lol.

Thermostat


The 3800 comes stock with a 195 degree (96-97) and a 180 degree (98+) thermostat. A common mod is to replace the thermostat with a 160 degree to increase fuel enrichment, the real facts are: A 160 just lowers the initial opening temperature, you still can run at 200 degrees or more, thereby creating wide temperature variations to and in the block and heads. You want your engine as HOT as you can get it without pre-ignition (which triggers the Knock (timing) Retard). Efficiency of the engine goes up the more heat the cylinder heads retain - up to the point of pre-ignition, all other things being equal. So you want it just cool enough so that the PCM does not retard the timing. A cool engine draws heat out of the combustion process - less vapor (combustion) pressure, less ability to do work (push the piston down). Not to mention the possibility of oil contamination from unburned fuel (due to lower temps). Pre-ignition can be reduced also by using higher octane gasoline. Reducing the temperature also impacts the ECT sensor, as discussed above in "PCM Operation." The reported ECT set temperature is 170 degrees, thereby forcing the PCM into Closed Loop Condition by "timing out." At which point the the desired goal of increasing the fuel enrichment goes away anyway, as the HO2 sensors will control the enrichment to maintain 14.7:1.

[Thedon619]

i have had no problem with my 160* thermo, the fans dont come on earlyer like said but the vavle to the block opens sooner so cooling is more effective, a tune is required to make fans come on sooner, or a switch. i have never heard of running to cool and building up carbon so thats news to me, however your block will always have varying temps, being in florida it gets hot here so idleing in traffic i can still see 210* temps however the stat in combo with the hood as soon as i get any movement the temp rapidly drops, you wont notice a performance difference unless your engine is heavly modded but it is a good, cheap mod to start off with in your car.

[Yoeasy69]

one of the common thoughts in this are " if i get it to run cooler, it will be more peppy and faster" sadly maybe in the years of carb's and such, but with our computer controlled engines, everything.. EVERYTHING is designed to run at optimum settings for long engine life, sadly, by changing just this in your engine, you are going to end up with a few bucks out of pocket, a few bloody knuckles from slipping wrenchs and a car that is really no different then when it was before..

your best be is save the 10-20 bucks, and buy a set of heads and cam and stuff, and get some real HP out of that LS-FUN.. i mean LS-1 .. know what i mean?!

[97rs4life]

all 3.8l fbody cars came with a 195* thermo stock. That is a typo in the database about it being a 180*.

Your car is not going to get damaged at all from it. People including myself have been running 160s for years. The computer tuning thing is helpful as it will lower your fan operation times to work with the thermo, however is not needed. The lower temp thermo opens sooner and therefore your car will take longer to get to 200*+ but will still eventually get there.

Tuning or manual fan switch are compliments to the thermos.

Just to summarize, 160* are not harmful, will not set SES in a 99 car, tuning not needed, but helpful, car will still heat up.

[silvurburd]

Thanks for all the help. Well my 160 is in the mail anyway so we'll see how it goes.

[WMCCjames]

Waste of money and can be harmful to your engine....been preaching that for years Same goes with a automatic trans....run them too cold and they will fail early.

[Thedon619]

its very easyer to change out, plus if your going to be doning a lot of mods eventually youll need one.

[97rs4life]

lets face it, it is a debate that will never die. I know though that for me and other 3.8l cars, the 160* thermo has had no ill effects for many years

[Thedon619]

same for any v8 ive known with one, including mine.