YACT: thermostat choices

[RU482]

I need to replace the thermostat in my car.
there are 3 choices...170F, 180F and 192F.

what are the advantages of going with a cooler or hotter thermostat?
it looks like 180F is the norm

 

[imthebadguy]

i really dont know what youre talking about, but all of those seem too hot for my liking

 

[RU482]

it controls the temperature of the coolant in your engine

just curious if a lower or higher temp would be good for fuel economy

 

[Vette73]

What is year make and model plus engine?


I put mostly 180 in the cars i work on. But you do better with a 192 for colder places to warm up quicker.

 

[Heisenberg]

A cooler thermostat is generally better for the engine and for performance, while a warmer one is better for emissions. However, if you go with too cold a thermostat that can be bad as well.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Running the engine too cold will harm your mileage. Where do you live?
When I lived in AZ I put in a 180F thermostat instead of the stock 195F just because it was fscking hot outside.

 

[natto fire]

180 is the best choice for your area, the lower temp ones open sooner. Good for areast that have warmer climates. The higher temp ones open later, good for cold climates to heat up ungine quicker.

 

[RU482]

93 accord 4 cylinder

 

[Zenmervolt]

A 170 degree thermostat will leave your car in "warm-up" mode and will be bad for the engine unless you have it really souped up.

The 180 degree thermostat is an OK choice if you live someplace like SoCal or the Southwestern desert but can prolong the "warm-up" mode in colder climates.

192 degree is the stock thermostat in most modern vehicles and generally yields the best fuel mileage and emissions. Plus, this is the thermostat that your engine management computer is programmed to function with.

ZV

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
A 170 degree thermostat will leave your car in "warm-up" mode and will be bad for the engine unless you have it really souped up.

The 180 degree thermostat is an OK choice if you live someplace like SoCal or the Southwestern desert but can prolong the "warm-up" mode in colder climates.

192 degree is the stock thermostat in most modern vehicles and generally yields the best fuel mileage and emissions. Plus, this is the thermostat that your engine management computer is programmed to function with.

ZV

QFT.

I would suggest a Mr. Gasket thermostat....

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
A cooler thermostat is generally better for the engine and for performance, while a warmer one is better for emissions. However, if you go with too cold a thermostat that can be bad as well.

That is completely false. An engine is better off being hot, comparatively speaking, up to a point. A hotter engine does not wear as fast and makes more power. Hotter is better for emissions also. The colder the air entering the engine the better it is for performance. Back n the days of carburetors engines had to be run cooler than desirable due to design. The intake carried and air/fuel mixture and if it got too hot in the intake the fuel would fall out of suspension and the engine would simply not run. With port fuel injection the intake carries only air so an engine can be run hotter for more efficiency and durability.

Back to the topic of thermostats. You should use one with the same rating as the one you took out if eveything was working properly. Operating temperature is determined by the design of the cooling system as a whole and the thermostat merely makes the car heat up faster than it would if none was in the system. A colder thermostat will not make the car run cooler unless the entire cooling system has the efficiency to make the engine run that cool...it will merely delay the time it takes for the engine to reach operating temperature. If the thermostat is has a much higher temp rating than the system wants to run then the temperature will cycle between true operating temperature and the temperature of the thermostat....it will be a constant up and down cycle and is bad for the engine.

So....a thermostat will not control the temp of the engine so simply replace yours with an exact same rating.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
That is completely false. An engine is better off being hot, comparatively speaking, up to a point. A hotter engine does not wear as fast and makes more power. Hotter is better for emissions also. The colder the air entering the engine the better it is for performance. Back n the days of carburetors engines had to be run cooler than desirable due to design. The intake carried and air/fuel mixture and if it got too hot in the intake the fuel would fall out of suspension and the engine would simply not run. With port fuel injection the intake carries only air so an engine can be run hotter for more efficiency and durability.

That's funny, because when I went with a lower temp one in my car the intake air temp dropped by 5-10 degrees, which is better for performance. As far as I can tell, fuel economy and emissions are about the same. It also doesn't cycle between temps - it stays exactly at the thermostat temperature.

Edit: I should say the car is not totally stock.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: redly1
I need to replace the thermostat in my car.
there are 3 choices...170F, 180F and 192F.

what are the advantages of going with a cooler or hotter thermostat?
it looks like 180F is the norm

Hotter is more fuel efficient
Cooler is more environmentally friendly.

 

[PandaBear]

Use the "exact same" temperature for your original, or else the timing and compensation of the ECU will be off.

Check Rockauto.com and find out what is your original.

Make sure you get the "failsafe" models. If/when they die they will not get stuck and overheat your engine, a must have if you want to keep your car for a few more years.

Find the one that is heaviest, they are usually better quality.

 

[ManyBeers]

According to the book"How To Hotrod Small Block Chevys" Chevrolet did extensive thermal stuies on their engines and found no appreciable performance difference
between engine temperatures of 145-195 degrees.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

The amout of crap coming out of peoples asses in this thread is incredible.

replace it with the factory spec. to cold and the ecu won't go into closed loop. to hot and the ecu may do things you don't like(like shutting down the A/C and turning off injectors.