grabbem88

i have a 180 thermo in it,i took the 160 because everyone said it was bad. it stays right at 210 deg. is that normal? i have a 3 core rad. electric fan, high volume water pump.the only thing i can think of is my l/t's put off some serious heat. they are mac's. hey i was hurt'n for money then. that and this summer heat not being so nice. so should i put a160 back in it?

roundman

Try a high flow theromstat instead of a regular one. Keep the 180 degree set point. When was the last time you flushed your cooling system? Also check the front of the radiator or AC condensor for trash, dead bugs, etc. restricting the air flow and flush them out really good with a hose from the inside out to improve the cooling efficiency. you might also try some header heat wrap on the headers to hold the heat in them and blow it out the pipes instead of under the hood. also make sure your timing is not set too high as this will add extra heat load to the system.

bobby

my timing is at about 13btdc is this ok???

grabbem88

what brand? no a/c or heat so that is covered. i thought of the wrap,but doesn't that stuff hold in moister? since i have a stock hood that heat can't really escape as it should either. i'm a temp freak,and timing don't matter it was set at 9 deg and it climbed just the same as i'm at 18 deg. tell me what brand i got a autozone special in there now.

roundman

I think I've seen ads in MM&FF for some from Hypertech and some other companies, just check in Summit Racing or Jegs catalogs or their websites. The wrap should help some, not sure about it getting wet but the heat would sure as hell dry it out real fast if it did get wet.
And Bobby, the stock timing setting for your Stang is 10 degrees BTDC, but you can run 13 as long as the motor doesn't ping under load or run hot.

bobby

well i dont think im running hot, i have the stck gauge nd it got up to half way between the half way mark and the 3/4 of the way up mark. i cant really tell what temp it is until i get some aftermarket gauges, i am running a 195 thermostat, do u think i should get a 180, i talked to a mechanic and he said u dont want a 180 with efi or something it wont run right, and if so what brand should i get, thanks a lot again man

86HOGT

I work at a Ford garage and the head tech there said not to even mess around with parts store's thermostats. Get a Ford one.

89vertgt

of course a FORD shop will say that...I bet he also said "tell him to come on over and I'LL SELL HIM ONE"

roundman

I would keep the 195 stat in it for now as the engine was programmed to run hot for better emissions and performance reasons. My Stang at the strip runs more consistently when it is around 190 degrees than it did with a lower temp stat in it, so I put the stock stat back in some time ago and am happy with the way it works.
If you want to check a themostat to see if it is working, you can always hang it from a coat hanger in a pot of water on the stove and turn the hear on and watch to see when it moves to open up if you have a thermometer in the pot with it. After it opens, you can take it out of the water and watch it cool down and close, kinda neat to see like magic!

dljohnson69

Hey HOGT is right.... I had 3 different thermostats in mine and never got a true reading until I got the Ford thermostat. Some parts are like that. The ignition module is the same way. I learned the hard way on both.