I went to buy a 160 thermostat for my 95Z and the guy told me it would mess everything up?

He said the computer reads the water temp, and lowering the temp would mess up the way the car runs.

Has anyone ever just replaced the thermostat with a 160 and had success without any other mods to a LT1?

 

Mine works fine

 

 

the guy has NO idea what hes talking about. Get the 160 thermo and dont listen to him

 

Check out the car he is driving. It's probably a 1970 Gremlin and he probably has never done a 160* thermo install on a Z. Go for it, it should work fine. Hey if you can drop the engine temp with the install you'll be running a lot safer!

 

It'll be just fine in the hot summer, but I highly recommend going back to the stock thermo in the wintertime, otherwise you'll end up with your oil not getting hot enough to burn off enough moisture.

Besides, there is no need for a colder thermo once the outside temps are below 70F. It's only above those temps where you'd see any kinds of benefits. And even then, the benefits aren't that great, it's not like it's a 10hp modification.

 

I was also told by more than one person that putting a 160* stat in the car would require tuning and that it wou;d just make you run hotter than normal. This is coming from people who I thought knew what they were talking about.

 

When I had a Jet power module, I bought a 160* t-stat. It slowly started running like crap. I took the t-stat out, went back stock, and it ran perfect. According to Jet, their power module is tuned to run with the stock t-stat.

But.....as far as stock programming goes, i've never known an OBD2 car that responded to a low temp thermostat.

 

I just replaced my stuck-shut stock thermostat with a 160 Hypertech unit and although I don't notice any performance improvement it does indeed run cooler. My engine temps are now about 175-185 while running down the highway. I had a friend scan my car afterwards and my PCM had indeed entered "closed loop". However, like said above, if you live in a cooler climate then when the time comes for cold weather I would definitely switch back to the stock 180 (if you drive it in the winter).

 

After all the reading and asking around I've done I decided to not do it. Unless you wanna switch it out every six months (which isn't hard but can be a little pain in the ****) then I wouldn't do it. Patman was right I'd definately switch back in the winter. If the motor doesn't reach optimal operating temps you can have some problems because of that, if not now later on down the road. For the summer time though you should be ok.

 

Thanks for all the feedback.
My car gets near the red mark when in stopped traffic. It runs fine when driving.
Coolant level is fine, radiator is clear of debris, etc.
I am now thinking that maybe it has a 195 thermostat and I should go to a 180 thermostat.
Is the stock thermostat a 195?

 

You might check your fans if you're getting close to the line...but whats close to the line? Each interpretation of close is different. Mine gets to about 230ish when stopped in traffic and then the fans kick on and knock it back down.

 

Stock is 180.

 

I noticed at least a 5 degree drop in the temperature that my car runs at. And when it does get hot (like in traffic), it will still go back down to a lower temp than it used to with the stock thermostat. I got my hypertech at Autozone for $18, its well worth it in my opinion. I dont see why anyone wouldnt want their car to run a little cooler. To each his own.

 

"Require tuning"? No.

"just make you run hotter than normal"? No.