Will putting a 160* thermostat in my car have any negative effects? Right now i got a 180* in there and it still gets up to about 220. The temperature around here gets into the 90s and i do a lot of stop and go driving. Also right now i am running 100% coolant, no water. Should i be doing this or should i be putting 50:50 mix or 60:40 mix or what



[This message has been edited by brodyscamaro (edited June 10, 2001).]

 

Water is one of the best coolants on earth. The big problem is that it also speed up corrosion. That is why anti freeze or dex-cool is mixed with it. To keep it from freezing and as a corrosion inhibitor. I have always had better luck with the 180 degree t-stat. You may try mixing your antifreeze with water and see if that helps your temp. stay down.

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'87 Silverado
350 4 bolt main bore .040 over
TB Injected
Ported and Polished heads
Comp cams 268h cam and top end
Flowtech headers

 

Definatly go with 50:50. There is no reason to run all coolant unless you live North of the border and see -40* temps every morning. As for coolant protecting against rust, maybe a little but it's still going to happen. The main reason why we use coolant is not just to protect against extream freezing temps, but also raises the boiling point. My sugestion: Stay with the 180 thermo and run 50:50. If it still gets really hot then you have to look at everything. Make sure air is getting to radiator, check the tech articles, there is a listing of things to check. Only thing I didn't see that should be checked is the space between ac condensor and radiator. If grass and stuff gets imbetween them you'll run hot.

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, Jon (350 TBI!)
91 Red My website

 

if you're running a 180 degree stat and you're at 220, something is not right. I can tell you first of all that running 100% coolant was your first mistake. Coolant won't absord heat nearly as well as water does. I have a 160 stat in my car with the proper Hypertech Thermomaster chip and I ran 155 to 165 all day long today and it was 94 degrees outside today. I would run 60 water and 40 coolant if I were you. Also make sure that your front air damn is in place as well. A missing front air damn will raise engine temps by 40 degrees, trust me, I know from first hand experience.

 

I had a 180* thermo and it would commonly get up to 220*'s. It went over that on super hot days with the AC on. If you live in the Soutwest 160* is a great idea. 170* would be ideal but I've never seen one.

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-Tas
'89 Formula WS-6

305, TBI, auto, 14x3 chrome flat based open element with K&N, Milodon 160* thermo, functional Formula hood, cross-flow Flowmaster, '99z28 rear pipes and tips....

Soon to be installed:
Hooker 1-5/8" 50 state legal headers, Dynomax 3" I pipe (PN 44063 and 43248), Catco 3" cat, and injector spacer.

Super GRK_Taz World
F-Body Dual Exaust
EFI & Intake Options
AOL IM: superGRtaz

 

Do I need to mix water in with coolant, or can I just pour some water into the top of the radiator?

[This message has been edited by brodyscamaro (edited June 11, 2001).]

 

You're gonna have to drain some coolant out to get enough water in there. I would drain the radiator into a gallon jug and fill it at least once, maybe 1.5-2 times, and then refill the now-emptied system with distilled water. Distilled water has no minerals to cause excess corrosion in it. Use it, cheap insurance. That'll help A LOT!

No joke, straight anti-freeze is a terrible coolant.

 

Agreed on the 50-50 mixture, another thing you can do is put a switch in your car to turn on your electric fans. That should help your situation. If there isn't a tech article on this, it is a simple wire splicing, run the wire to a switch in the interior deal. That should make a big diff.



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Flowmaster 80 series muffler
K&N Open Element cleaner
Ultimate TBI Mods
Subframe Connectors
GM Wonderbar
lead pedal foot . See my project rocket turtle @
http://oursportscars.homestead.com/home.html

 

170 degree thermo you can get at CSK (checker, Shcucks blah... ya know) Stant makes/made them. I don't know if they still have them but it was under medium temp thermostat.

 

What is "front air damn"?

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92 Camaro 305 TBI. Everything stock so far except a shift kit.

Future mods. Spark plug wires and plugs, tint, Cutting off cat and new 3or 4inch pipes. Maybe putting 2 glass paks for effect. any other advise on getting to 300+ HP would be appreciated. Thanks

 

What is the problem with running 100% coolant? Anyway I have used a 160 and it never got over 160 and I now have a 180 and it never gets over 180, and where I am from the temps are always in the 90's. Anyway i noticed better performance and also better gas mileage after changing to the 180. The 160 caused my truck to run rich.

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87 C-10
305 TBI
(yeah I know its a truck, but you are the best TBI guys I have found)
Performance
**Somewhere around a 17.0 @ 85 ish (G-Tech)
*Freshly rebuilt 305 bored +0.030 over (311)
*K&N Airfilter
*Homemade Ramair w/ modified intake
*180 thermostat
*Custom True dual exhaust(Flowmaster 40's)No Cat's
*TD Performance TBI Spacer
*Mobil 1 10-w30
*Redline Water Wetter
**(alot more done, but I don't feel like boring everybody)

 

Read any antifreeze bottle and it'll show you the RIGHT mix for the temps that the car/truck will see. Usually 50:50 covers the most variable range. Like -20deg up to 100deg.

 

Dan, I think the F-bodys have electric fans. This will cause them to run warmer than there t-stat, because the fans still don't kick on until factory settings unless they have a chip that modifies them. Our trucks also have large radiators for cooling under towing conditions. You probably wouldn't notice any cooling problems unless you pulled a trailer for awhile. Besides it is cheaper to run onle half anti freeze.

I agree. Distilled water is the best!