160 degree thermostat

[rforbes]

I am thinking of adding the 160 degree thermostat to help the car run cooler, however I have read that it may also affect the emissions. I was wondering if this would possibly cause it to fail inspection. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of the 160 degree thermo??

[CGM2SSRS]

I run a 160 in both my silverado's. I also have headers and CAI as well as throttle body upgrades. Most importantly they both are tuned for these upgrades.
As long as your tuning to accommodate them you should have no issues with emissions.
I know old school GM guy's are gonna say,"these motors are designed to operate at 195-210" And my contention is anything that can operate at a cooler temperature is going to last longer and operate at least as efficiently. Over 120k miles on the 94 and 30k on the 05. NO issues. Running the way I want em to. Hard and fast.

[ZZcamaro]

I have it in my Camaro!!!
No problems...just have to tune the fans to come on and off accordingly

[THE EVIL TW1N]

engine life would DECREASE. Oil temps would stay too low for too long except on longer trips, engine would run cold for a longer period which would promote more wear and blow-by, contaminating the oil quicker. Gas mileage will decrease and emmissions will rise. Also, it wouldn't do any good really unless you also program the fans to come on earlier (except on the freeway). Could also lead to shorter fan and alternator life.

[ZZcamaro]

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

engine life would DECREASE. Oil temps would stay too low for too long except on longer trips, engine would run cold for a longer period which would promote more wear and blow-by, contaminating the oil quicker. Gas mileage will decrease and emmissions will rise. Also, it wouldn't do any good really unless you also program the fans to come on earlier (except on the freeway). Could also lead to shorter fan and alternator life.

That is one opinion....but i will have to very respectfully disagree.

[kopacko]

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

engine life would DECREASE. Oil temps would stay too low for too long except on longer trips, engine would run cold for a longer period which would promote more wear and blow-by, contaminating the oil quicker. Gas mileage will decrease and emmissions will rise. Also, it wouldn't do any good really unless you also program the fans to come on earlier (except on the freeway). Could also lead to shorter fan and alternator life.

Nah...all taken care of with using Mobil1 or Royal Purple.

[patriotpa]

Originally Posted by ZZcamaro

That is one opinion....but i will have to very respectfully disagree.

[CGM2SSRS]

Originally Posted by ZZcamaro

That is one opinion....but i will have to very respectfully disagree.

120k of hard driven miles and OE Alternator. Doesn't burn one ounce of oil,oil never has been fuel saturated. My direct experience allies with the above post. I am but one case however.

[Rodrunner]

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

engine life would DECREASE. Oil temps would stay too low for too long except on longer trips, engine would run cold for a longer period which would promote more wear and blow-by, contaminating the oil quicker. Gas mileage will decrease and emmissions will rise. Also, it wouldn't do any good really unless you also program the fans to come on earlier (except on the freeway). Could also lead to shorter fan and alternator life.

Agreed, EVIL, running an engine hotter, but not too hot, is and always has been better. Read up guys.

[Gentry78]

Originally Posted by Rodrunner

Agreed, EVIL, running an engine hotter, but not too hot, is and always has been better. Read up guys.

for emissions only imo

[96rss/ls6]

For performance you want the motor to run cool, hands down. For emissions you want to run hotter. As far as wearing because of 25 degrees or so, not gonna happen. You dont rev a car on a cold start but thats because oil hasnt had time to sling to the places it needs to reach. The only reason these vehicles are ran that hot is to burn or re-burn exhaust gasses,and produce much less emissions. This is why racers will let a car run to heat up and thin the oil, then let the block cool right up until the point of a burnout. Plus when it comes to cylinders,they seat during break in,once that happens if your oil hasnt lost all viscosity there is no way it will cause a engine to wear prematurely
Oh yeah Imo Lol!

[MJ]

Fyi - stock thermostat is 86C (187F)

[rayhawk]

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

engine life would DECREASE. Oil temps would stay too low for too long except on longer trips, engine would run cold for a longer period which would promote more wear and blow-by, contaminating the oil quicker. Gas mileage will decrease and emmissions will rise. Also, it wouldn't do any good really unless you also program the fans to come on earlier (except on the freeway). Could also lead to shorter fan and alternator life.

You are correct, but the differences are very small. The engine oil temp is a better indicator of the temps of the bearings, rings, etc, so +/- a few degrees is normal here, and I don't really see the coolant temp affecting the oil temp inside the engine at a 1:1 ratio. It will be less, but not enough to be harmful IMO. To see any difference you would probably have to take 2 engines, one that has run the stock thermostat and one that has run a cooler one, and compare them after 150k miles, then you might see that the cooler running one has a fraction of a percent more wear. It will have an affect, but I doubt most people would ever realize it.

[CTS]

.................................

How Temperature Affects Engine Operation


The engine's emission controls as well as it's fuel and spark control systems are all calibrated to work within a given temperature range. If someone replaced the thermostat with the wrong one for the application (either colder or hotter), it can cause driveability, fuel economy, performance and emissions problems. So if the thermostat is replaced for any reason, it must be replaced with one that has the same (or correct) temperature rating for your vehicle.

Coolant temperature is used for a variety of engine and emission control functions. The coolant sensor on late model engines tells the computer when the engine has reached normal operating temperature. This, in turn, affects fuel enrichment, spark timing, operation of the EGR valve, purging of the charcoal canister, etc. Even on many non-computer engines, thermal vacuum switches (TVS) that react to a specific coolant temperature are used to open and close various vacuum circuits that regulate fuel enrichment, timing and emissions.

If a colder thermostat is installed, the coolant may never get hot enough to trigger the appropriate control functions in the computer or TVS vacuum circuits. As a result the engine will run as if it were continually cold, which increases both fuel consumption and emissions. Too low an operating temperature also increases cylinder wear.