after i installed a 160 degree thermostat my heater would no longer put out hot air compared to what it used to...is everyones like this or just me?

 

I have the same deal. The air blows through the heater core at the same velocity as before but the water in the core is not as hot (160 vs 180+) so not as much heat is transferred to the air. It blows warm air instead of hot. My car doesn't come out of the garage in the winter so it's not a prob for me but on chilly days in the fall it took much longer to warm up the car. Fogging windows was a bigger prob, too.

 

Yep, same thing happened to me as well.... Before I saw the weather for this weekend, I thought I was fine, living in FL, but we're supposed to drop to 13 degrees friday night...

 

ive been considering switching back to a 180 because i'm tired of freezing when i drive.

 

I swap back in the winter.

 

Same problem in my LT1 Vega. I over-built the cooling because I live in Texas and V-8 Vega's are notorious for overheating. Not so with my car. I drove to Louisville, and didn't get above 160* on the temp gauge. Even in the summer, it rarely went over 180*. But I didn't have any heat in the winter, and the car ran pig-rich. I swapped back to a 180* thermostat and 200* Hypertech fan switch, and I'm going to keep it that way for the summer and see how I like it. The stock LT1 likes to run rich anyway (especially compared to the LS1), so all you are doing is making it run richer with the cooler thermostat, possibly contributing to the low RPM stumble during acceleration. My personal opinion is the 160* thermostat is way overrated for a street-driven car, but I'll wait and see how it does this summer with the 180* before I get rid of my 160* thermostat.

Regards,
Dave

 

If you drive your car in the winter, use the stock 180 degree thermostat.

I only drive my car April 1 through the second week in November. I use a 160 and reprogramed the fans to come on at 185 and 195. According to my datamaster the coolest it will run with a 35 degree ambient temp is about 177 degrees. Plenty of heat for ambients above freezing.

 

I also just changed over to a 180 from 160. I could drive my car all day long around here and it still would have steam coming out of the pipes. And I had a sure-fire indication my engine wasn't getting hot enough after pulling the dipstick and finding that yellow-snot lookin' stuff at the top of the stick. It's not getting hot enough to burn off the condensation inside. Definitely not a good combo.

- Brent

 

I just wear a sweater and a jacket but I dont really have a problem because it doesn't really get to cold in Houston. When it is I usally stay inside and dont go any were. But then again I'm the same guy that is about to do an a/c delete. Only used the a/c like twice.

 

how much of a performance gain do you see outta that? is it worth it?

 

I'm no expert, that's for sure. But the stock LT1 seems like it runs pretty rich to begin with. A 160* thermostat is going to lower engine coolant temperature as long as the cooling system can keep up (i.e., not 110 degrees in Phoenix in the summer). The coolant temperature sensor will pick this up, and the PCM will modify the fuel trim by increasing the Air/Fuel mixture, making it even richer. I don't think that's desireable for a normally-aspirated, unmodified street-driven car. I also believe the all-too-common off-idle stumble so many people experience is related to running too rich, especially when they have tested and/or replaced wires, plugs, coil, opti, egr, etc... I think the 160* thermostat is probably a great thing for a stroker, higher compression engine, NOS, supercharged,-- any time you need a richer mixture to offset detonation. But I think it's one of those things that are marketed as "buy this part and see a 5 RWHP gain in 15 minutes", so everyone buys it.

I have an LS1 Z-28, and that car runs on the edge of lean. And I mean RUNS! Different engine, different design, but I tend to think lean is better than rich as long as you stay off the knock sensor.

Having said that, I'm going to try to run my 180* thermostat in the summer in Texas with a Hypertech 200* fan switch in hope of getting the car to run a little leaner and cleaner. But if it starts looking like it's running too hot, I'm putting the 160*thermostat and a 176* fan switch back in! After that, I might go to a dyno tune to re-map my fuel tables for leaner operation.

Regards,
Dave

 

summer 160 winter back to 180 its that easy...takes 5 min

 

There is the problem I ran into. I think the best thing to do is switch them out between summer and winter. In the summer in Texas, I was roasting with the 180 stat in the car. The 160 really helps out a lot. But in the winter, I'm wishing for the 180 when its below about 45 outside. Now I've recently been told that there is a company making a 170 degree stat. That may be just the perfect temp but I have yet to lay my eyes on one. Supposedly, Advance Auto carries it.