Any benefit to installing a 180 degree thermostat?

[Curious Hound]

I hear you have a job for me?

Here is my resume.

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But, of course you didn't display those with another object to put their true size in perspective.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

But, of course you didn't display those with another object to put their true size in perspective.

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I daily drive a 2.9.

 

[Dirtman]

Im going to my garage to put a 160 degree thermostat in my mustang right now. The evidence is clear. Ill get at least 50 hp. And obviously using colored water was a mistake, im switching to 50 weight oil. Ill gain another 50 hp starving my cams. Screw science and engineering! The EPA is after me! Ahhhhhhhhhh!

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I daily drive a 2.9.

 

[gaz]

I tried every temp thermostate from 195°-160° on a stock 2.9l to see how the computer handled it. The engine performance as determined by fuel economy was best with a 180° or 185°.

Later I added a Hypertech stage II chip which required a 160° Tstat. That setup with JBA's into a custom 2¼ SS Borla exhaust yielded 28 mpg on the highway with 6" total lift, 32" rubber, 4:10LS and a full load @ 65 mph through a fm145 long bed 87 Ranger.

So the answer is, if it is worth it for you to find out, buy and try them until YOU find out which work best for your setup. Also, to save a little money, buy the cheaper T-stat without the breather hole and make it yourself with a ¹/16" drill bit through the side YOU install on the top

 

[cbxer55]

Glad to see there is more than one person on this forum who agrees with me. Like I said, not trying to convince anyone to do something they don't want to do. But quit saying it's going to kill my engine. Because it hasn't hurt my 3.0 Ranger in the 19 years I've had it. Nor has 20W-50. The dude who keeps saying straight 50 weight, you're just being dumb. Yeah, I used to sell a lot of straight 60 weight Valvoline racing oil to Harley riders. Don't know why? Stop leaks? Maybe the thickerer oil makes them vibrate less? LOL But 20W-50 is 20 weight when cold, 50 weight when hot. When you pull the drain plug on a crankcase full of hot 20w-50, it comes out not much different than 30 weight.

19 years and over 162,000 miles, no harm done.

If you like the EPA, that's your problem. Just another top heavy, power hungry, bloated, too many chiefs, not enough Indians bureaucracy. We have no smog checks or safety checks where I live. And it's super nice. Don't have to do anything once a year more than just drive to the local Tag Agency one mile away, pay my low yearly registration fee, and drive home. I read at LightningRodder.com, all the time, the headaches that Lightning guys have in smog check states. You can keep all that bullshit!

 

[Paulos]

I think they were just yanking your chain. It's entertainment.

 

[cbxer55]

Proof never is and never will be on a dashboard gauge.... Now if you had some electronics which they weren't using in the seventies either to any great degree...

May be true. Did you not see the post on the previous page where a guy measured the temperature of the top of his radiator. He saw a 10 degree drop in the top of radiator temp when he installed a 180 in place of a 195. Like me, he put it in when it needed thermostat anyway. I'll roll with his information over your harping on me. LOL!!!

 

[cbxer55]

I think they were just yanking your chain. It's entertainment.

Good that I give them ammo to have fun with.

There's guys on the Lightning forums who run 160's in place of the stock 180. I haven't gone there yet. But I might. Putting a new blower on over the July 4th weekend, Magnum Powers. Bumping the boost four pounds higher. I may end up putting a 160 in it, since none of the guys who've done it have reported issues with the Check Engine light about the open loop/closed loop issue. Recently installed a hood with heat vents. Even that made a small difference in where the temperature gauge needle points, surprisingly. The center cowl is also a heat exit point. Even idling, you can hold your hands behind the cowl or the side vents and feel the heat rolling out. Here soon, going to whack up the Ranger's hood and put some of the exact same vents on it.

 

[cbxer55]

Nah I'm busy building a boat..

BOAT. Bust Out Another Thousand. Friend's wife, that's what she calls them. "Lets Bust Out Another Thousand and take the boat to the lake this weekend. LOL!!!!

But yeah, my Lightning's the same. Blower sittin on my dining room table cost $2500. Second hand with very few miles, rebuilt and ported prior to sale. It's a Magnum Powers with a Jokerz port job. Best port job there is.

Got an E-fan kit in for my Lightning the other day. Going to go out and unpack that, get ready to do the install Sunday, if the weather is nice. It's garaged, but still if it's raining, it'll wait for another day.

 

[cbxer55]

Someone was asking the other day, what's a B-King. The prototype was called the Boost King, a Hayabusa motor with a blower. When they produced it, was sans blower. Sad. Mine has functional ram air in the vents under the front signals, K & N filter and the much sought after Yoshimura exhaust. Sounds so frikkin beautiful at full honk.

 

[cbxer55]

My 06 M109R, 1800 cc DOHC four valve per cylinder, oil and liquid cooled V-twin. Over square with a 7500 rpm redline, unusual for a big bore v-twin. Ten inch rear rim with a 280/35-18 Metzeler tire. Modified intake, modified exhaust. Handlebar risers are two inches shorter than stock.

 

[cbxer55]

My handle, used to ride Honda CBX's a lot. Had two. Six cylinder, air cooled DHOC four valve per cylinder inline six. At ICOA, cbxer was a common handle. And when I joined, 55 was the first number available.

And that's me at 56 years young, next to a Thunderbird at Tinker AFB.

Last pic, me on my very highly modified 81 Honda CBX. Taken in 2006 right before I sold it to get that M109R.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

If the dashboard gauge reads lower, it's bound to be running at a lower temperature... Ignoring this fact would be the same as denying that the temp needle was pegged at the upper limit when there's coolant fogging out from under the hood.

All that being said, it's well known that the water vapor isn't cooking out of the oil very well with lower temp thermostats. It's probably the same thing with people that run huge oil coolers. On my V8 Ranger, the oil gets changed so often/quick that moisture isn't a concern for me. I run synthetic oil and it may be wasteful to change it so early, but the truck still sees 2500 mile oil changes. I also change the oil before it sits all winter, so the acids that are built-up in the oil don't harm internal parts.

It all comes down to user preference.

 

[cbxer55]

Same here friend, same here. 2500 to 3000 miles on all my vehicles. Not concerned with any build up of foreign substance in the oil. Oil needs to reach 212 degrees, the boiling point of water, for any water to be boiled off. Do any? My M109R has an oil temp gauge as it's dip stick. I rarely see it go above 200, and it has a 195 degree thermostat (oil cooled by the radiator, ala transmission fluid). Fan kicks on at 210. Thermostat is a PITA to change, or i would have already done it, btw. Same with the B-King.