Aixtreme89

I had to run up to mustangs unlimited today, and while I was up there I bought a 160 degree thremostat. I am doing a cam swap this weekend and I figured I would change the thermostat while I was in there. Is there any benefit to changing the thermostat from the factory 180 degrees to 160 degrees. The guy there said its supposed to give you horsepower. I think he doesnt no what hes talking about. Do you guys know?

SilverGTV8

It makes an attempt to keep the engine bay cooler. For the most part they work but if you live in a hot area or a lot of stop and go the car may overheat 9these are extreme cases) You won't notice any real HP gain, maybe 1 or 2 if you are lucky.

M1ke

i think all it does is kick the fans on at a lower temp. (160) and cools the engine down, theoretically making power

Zoie_daGT

There was an article about it in MM&FF that you may get a little bit of a hp gain because the engine is a little cooler. I swapped out my stock 195* one for a 180* one. I thought I noticed a slight difference getting into the powerband but it could just be my imagination. I can def. tell that the engine is running cooler. I ran into a Chevy S10 guy that said that he ran a 110* one in his truck but at that point, I doubt you would ever get out of warm up mode and would always run rich.

Aixtreme89

So is stock 195degrees? Do you think 160 degrees would be too much. Also do you know what issue that was that you saw that article?

Zoie_daGT

I know that it was stock for my 96-98 engine. I do think that 160 degrees may be too much. Let me dig up that issue and maybe I can find out what the deal is.

Zoie_daGT

It is either the Nov. or Dec. issue of MM&FF. I am sorry but I cant seem to locate it at this time. As I recal though, it said that they would go with the 180* one to get the engine cooler but let it come out of warmup mode. The best I could tell you is to start your car. My car warms up at about 1100rpms. After it warms up sufficiently, it idles at about 700rpms. I assume that is when the car gets out of warmup mode. Try something like that to see if you thermostat is ok. Like I said, I dont know what came stock on the PI engines but I do know that I pulled a Motorcraft 195* thermostat out of my car when I did the swap.

Aixtreme89

Thanks for the help, I cant seem to find my those issues either, there somewhere. But I think I am just going to stick with the stock thermostat. I dont want to risk with reliability issues. I am going to be doing alot of hours and hours of driving soon.

rbstang

160 is great i love it. since its like 20 degrees outside i drive my car down the street and cars warm Also its needed for my hypertech chip because without it the engine pings.

Aixtreme89

Strange you say that. Its a hypertech 160 degree thermostat. I figured I am going to have my timing advanced with a SCT flash tuner so it will help. They also had a 180 degree hypertech one too. I guess I went to much. Should of gone for the 180 if anything,