Not sold on 160 degree thermostat

[john.thompson068]

I am still not sold on the 160 thermostat. I cannot get a straight answer anywhere. Everything I read on the Internet is conflicting. Personally, I would like my motor to run at a minimum of 180 degrees when cruising. So I probably need a 180 thermostat. I would be totally happy if my new fans keep the car running at no more than 190-200 degrees in traffic (anything hotter than that makes the starter crank slowly). This means that either thermostat will be open anyway because at idle the car is going to run hotter than 180 degrees guaranteed. So all a 160 thermostat will do is make the car run too cool at 160 degrees when cruising. And if the car can't cool itself at idle, then starting off 20 degrees cooler only slightly prolongs the time it takes for the overheating condition to reoccur. For only a couple bucks, and a few minutes to replace, I will buy a 180 degree thermostat and do my own testing.

 

[65 Plymouth Satellite 426]

Heating Problems Is The Reason I'm Running Electric Fans! Run The 180.

 

[Moparsmitty]

Assuming the thermostat is working properly (opening at the correct temp) going to a colder thermostat is not going to solve an overheating problem. I would run a 180 tstat on just about any older application. Most are designed to run a 180 to 190 coolant temp. 160 is too cold. Not good for the engine.

 

[tpodwdog]

Assuming the thermostat is working properly (opening at the correct temp) going to a colder thermostat is not going to solve an overheating problem. I would run a 180 tstat on just about any older application. Most are designed to run a 180 to 190 coolant temp. 160 is too cold. Not good for the engine.

EXACTLY.... when you buy a 160 or a 180 or a 192 thermostat....that does NOT mean that your engine will maintain that temperature. All that means is that your 160 thermostat will Start TO OPEN at that temperature......thats all it means!

normal operating temperature for pretty much ANY engine is around 210 degrees on the AVVVVVVVERAGEEEEEEEEEE.:headbang:

 

[terzmo]

even in Buffalo Ny,back in the fifties,sixties, alot of people removed the thermostat in the summer. It only prolongs the time it takes to open when the water hits the stat designed temp. Going from 180 to 160 will not(or any other stat) will NOT fix overheating. If the car runs cool down the road and overheats at the lights/traffic, there's an issue with coolant flow,coolant supply and or air flow through the rad.
I personally run a 160 as I want My rad working to cool sooner rather than later. Heat is an enemy of engine life. (and the youngsters think a 50's,60's designed iron engine can run well at 220, well 220 on any old iron heat gauge is overheating,and they can run them at that as long or short as they want)

 

[Supershafts]

180 stat or 190

 

[wedgie]

On my race car, I just cut the center (the part that opens and closes) out of a thermostat and re-installed the rest of it as a restrictor. It allows the car to cool much faster between rounds because of the electric waterpump.
There are high flow electric water pumps available for the street that may help with your issue, especially at low RPM.

 

[Dako]

All statements have been correct. :sSig_goodjob:

As for over heating in traffic...it usually points to one of two things: blockage (crud) within the block or radiator - not allowing water to properly flow; or non-efficient cooling by the current radiator...be it not enough cores, or no fan shroud. I have experienced both. :thermal_oz:

On my current build, even with the block and intake getting hot tanked, I stepped away from the original two core radiator and went with the high efficiency 4 core copper (looks like original equipment and cools like the aluminumn) from US Radiator. Taking it a step further, I added a fan shroud(car did not originally have one) from Year One.

You have to remember, when these cars were originally built traffic was not near as congested as it gets today. Even though mine is a complete restification...'day two'...or however you refer to a restoration with modifications these days, I plan to drive her regularly. Some will say it's over kill, but the last thing I want to happen is to get stuck on the side of the road with an overheated power plant. I prefer to pay now and not worry about it than to pay later when I'm a couple hours from home.

Good luck with your choices.

 

[john.thompson068]

I also remember that someone here said the 160 was the best way to go. I know why that manual said that. Because a 160 degree thermostat will increase an engines power because when the car is racing along, it will stay at 160 degrees which creates more power since it is cooler. But the drawback is wear on the cylinders because the block is not hot enough to match the heat of the pistons. So the pistons are fully expanded at 185* but the block is contracted because it is not hot enough to expand to the proper size. So it throws tolerances off. Someone said it causes piston skirting. Someone else said the oil needs to be hotter than this to burn off moisture in the pan. So after all my Internet research and what you guys say. I will put in a 180 thermostat.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Just because you run a 160* thermostat, does not obligate that the car is going to run 160* at idle; it is basing the fact that the thermostat (which is strictly mechanical) will open at 160* and hopefully keep the engine at a steady operating temperature while in heavy traffic. The reason you run a 160* thermostat is that is opens 20* cooler in comparison to a 180* thermostat, allowing the engine to run at a more desirable idling temp. Anyone that has ever had a stuck thermostat can see that engine temperature can shoot 20*s in a matter of seconds, and overheat within a miles worth of driving in a high performance application. The car runs 160* while cruising, which DICTATED BY THE MOPAR PERFORMANCE AND DIRECT CONNECTION ENGINE TECH MANUAL is the best operating temperature for performance in a big block mopar; not just here say. I run at a dead locked 185* while idling in traffic for long periods of time, but have a 160* thermostat. The reason to move toward the cooler thermostat, is to hopefully lesson the overall operating temperature experienced by your engine (which increases overall power and engine life.) It would be foolish in my opinion to not run the coolest thermostat available for your application, using common sense. Their are many factors that can create heating problems. The thermostat isn't going to solve any of the problems you are having, it is just a cost effective upgrade to increase engine life and power. Their is nothing wrong with the 180* Thermostat, but I prefer to go with what the engineers at Mopar decided was the best to run-other than what the guy behind the counter at Autozone recommends that he runs in his Honda Civic. Remember, new cars have pressurized cooling systems. Older cars do not. You cannot compare the temperatures of a 200HP aluminum block V6 to a 550HP Iron Block V8. Use common sense, and you'll get your problem solved. 160*-180* are both good choices IMO.

 

[Slantsixdan]

160° would be an incorrect choice. See here.

In general, low-speed/stuck-in-traffic overheating points to insufficient airflow across the radiator: not enough fan, not enough fan shroud, that kind of thing. High-speed overheating points to insufficient water flow through the radiator.

 

[terzmo]

Just because you run a 160* thermostat, does not obligate that the car is going to run 160* at idle; it is basing the fact that the thermostat (which is strictly mechanical) will open at 160* and hopefully keep the engine at a steady operating temperature while in heavy traffic. The reason you run a 160* thermostat is that is opens 20* cooler in comparison to a 180* thermostat, allowing the engine to run at a more desirable idling temp. Anyone that has ever had a stuck thermostat can see that engine temperature can shoot 20*s in a matter of seconds, and overheat within a miles worth of driving in a high performance application. The car runs 160* while cruising, which DICTATED BY THE MOPAR PERFORMANCE AND DIRECT CONNECTION ENGINE TECH MANUAL is the best operating temperature for performance in a big block mopar; not just here say. I run at a dead locked 185* while idling in traffic for long periods of time, but have a 160* thermostat. The reason to move toward the cooler thermostat, is to hopefully lesson the overall operating temperature experienced by your engine (which increases overall power and engine life.) It would be foolish in my opinion to not run the coolest thermostat available for your application, using common sense. Their are many factors that can create heating problems. The thermostat isn't going to solve any of the problems you are having, it is just a cost effective upgrade to increase engine life and power. Their is nothing wrong with the 180* Thermostat, but I prefer to go with what the engineers at Mopar decided was the best to run-other than what the guy behind the counter at Autozone recommends that he runs in his Honda Civic. Remember, new cars have pressurized cooling systems. Older cars do not. You cannot compare the temperatures of a 200HP aluminum block V6 to a 550HP Iron Block V8. Use common sense, and you'll get your problem solved. 160*-180* are both good choices IMO.

couldn't agree more...as I stated earlier, I run a 160. It only opens sooner than a 180 and allows the rad to do it's thing. My car never ran down the road at 160 after warmup....except one smallblock I had with a 26 inch alum rad. On cool days it would go down to 160 at highway speed, but that is/was an exception.

 

[moparfanUSA]

I at one time had an over heating problem. Tried a 160, 185, 195 and no stat. I had the rad that came with it from the factory changed from 2 core to 3 ( or was it 3 to 4???) still ran at 220 degrees while on the highway. So before I was driving home from Carlise last year I took out the stat and it ran cooler. I put in a hi flow 160 and from then on it ran at 180-190 on the highway. The only time it runs at 170 is on a cool day or night, but when I put that 160 in the engine runs right where it needs to be. It really sounds like everyone's engine runs better at different temps with different stats. The worst choice I made was to put in a 195, ran way to hot. Now that it runs good....if it's not broke, don't fix it.

 

[ArtH]

Some years back we ran into an overheating problem that we could not understand. Everything looked good and appeared to be working but the car still over heated. Going to a lower t'stat will not solve the problem, but I won't beat that one into the ground any more. Even though the coolant was flowing through the radiator (we could see that with the cap off) we decided that was the last place to examine. We dismounted the radiator, took it to a radiator shop and had it rodded out. It turned out the lower third of the radiator was completely clogged with silicon drop out from the antifreeze coolant that hadn't been changed in who knows how long. That stuff was like solder. The guy cleaned it out, soldered up the tanks problem solved.

My car and truck both run about 200 to 205 and can hit 210 with A/C and 90 plus temps outside. I have never over heated either of them. Normally, a 50/50 mix of ethylene glycol and water will raise the boiling temp of just plain water to 250 or higher. Make sure your cooling system is properly sealing with no leaks. The system must pressurize as this raises the boiling temp either higher just like a pressure cooker.