Reply To: High flow thermostat

[Chuck & Wanda King]

Hi Robin,
Tom and I did not test a 160 degree thermostat. We did test with a restrictor plate (thermostat welded wide open) and with no t-stat at all. These conditions would probably be closer to a 160 high flow t-stat than a standard 160 or 180 degree t-stat. It’s been too long ago for me to remember the exact time in the chronology of the tests to say what all enhancements were used when we did those tests —- frankly I don’t feel like digging through those tests to check on all the testing conditions. What’s important I can talk about though and can surmise some things from what’s in the article we have posted. Tom had done the thermostat tests in the article, so I can’t speak 1st hand, but judging from the test numbers shown on the bar graphs shown and what the engine temperatures were, I think very few enhancements were being used at the time. The results obviously would have improved with more air, but the results we posted were consistant with other increased water flow tests. The poiint of all this chatter is that increased water flow at an idle, in our tests increased engine temperature, so I would assume the situation you’re presenting would have had a similar result.
When you said about the temperature where you are in Australia having a low of 10 degrees C, it took a minute for that to register. That’s about a low of 50 degrees F. Sounds pretty good to me now when it’s below freezing almost every day. But that brings up the other side of the low temps, that is that you probably have much higher and many more high temperatures than we do here in Pennsylvania. Even though you may be able to run at temps below 180 degrees F at highway speeds on hot days, at low speed and at an idle the engine temp is going to get up more in the 200 + degree area even with airflow enhancements (except for the inclusion of an electric fan). That means if you use a 160 degree t-stat on hot days, between the highway and an idle, you’re going to have fairly large temperature swings. The engine operates nicely between 180 and 210, so if you use the 180 t-stat, the temperature swing cycle will be considerably less, which is much kinder to your engine.