ok, stock is 195. i popped a 180 in it.

the car ran fine on the 195 stock, but from what i read, the 180 is better because its cooler. but 195 is on there from the factory....obvioulsy for a reason.
i had no coolant loss for one reason or another until i put the 180 in, and now, as previously posted, have to replace my headgaskets.
also, someone said when it runs cooler, it can cause condensation under the valve covers?
http://www.hdpixel.com/gallery/data/3693/71DSCF0247.JPG
^^thats what my valve covers look like right now.

so it running cooler...is this bad? or good?

 

Not sure where you got your information, but 180° is the stock LT1 thermostat.
Lots of people (including myself) run a 160° thermostat without any problems.
Maybe your problem was from having the 195° thermostat in there.

 

I still have the original t'stat out of my "bought it new" 94.... and its clearly marked 180deg. The unique reverse flow cooling system is the reason GM selected that temperature.

 

thats funny...according to the haynes, the thermostats operating temp range is higher than 180 if im not mistaken, and when i went to GM dealer, they only had 195's in stock....made me belive that it was a 195 that was stock.

 

Dealers and parts stores will swear till they are blue in the face nothing has been sold with under a 195 stat in 20 years and they would be wrong. The parts guy probably just figured V8 and "knew" it needed a 195 stat and didn't bother to look it up. Our stat is specific to the LT1 LT4 and L99(4.3L version of the LT1 available in the Caprice), as such it cost around $20 most of the time. If the one they sold you was $5-10 I guarantee you it was the wrong one and they sold you one for a gen1 engine.

 

well, what i did back then, was go to GM and asked for a tstat for a camaro, 95 with LT1. they said they had one in stock and i asked if it was 180 or 195 they said they dont stock 180's.

weird, maybe the person was stupid?

 

Yea just a typical t-stat that you could pick up in pep boys or something..
i paid 20$ for my 160* Hypertech T-Stat

 

I paid about 10 bucks for a 180 at Autozone. It was a little longer than a normal thermo, so I am almost positive it is the right one, haven't put it in yet though.

 

Stock 180° thermostat.

Profile view of the long LT1 thermostat. (Hypertech 160° on bottom right)

 

hmmm...interesting...im guessing the guy at GM was retarded then.

 

i always thought that the 195 was stock too, i guess i was wrong,

anyways have a 160 and i never get anything like that on my valve covers, i just recently had mine off and no condenation at all

 

On the "condensation" thing change the pcv valve and don't short trip it and it should improve.

 

it is a new PCV valve actually

 

what makes a after market one better?