So its pretty much pointless to run a 160* T-stat?? Cool, saves me the time taking my Silverado apart.

 

Dont know if this really matters that much... or you may have already thought about this... send it back if its fairly new and get the 180*... I have a 2003 5.3 and did a gear swap to 4.10's and im getting around about 389-395 a tank....

 

Oh and i Floor the **** outta my truck everywhere I go

 

i have one in my truck and i didn't really notice and performance gain or loss. gas milage didn't change either.

i just like to have the extra breathing room when it comes to the engine temp. expecialy with my elec fans. i notice that when i just normal drive it (rag on it) my temp goes up to around 190ish. but if i drive it good it goes back down. i just like having it in there IMO.

 

Right now if i drive normal i get around 450 to 460 to a tank of gas. If im mashin on it i get around 390 or so. I dont know, maybe ill try out to see if i like it.

 

My interior guage with the stock thermostat always read 195 degrees, with the 160 stat it now reads 185 degrees. No major performance increase, just less tendency for the truck to detonate.

 

FWIW here is some info for you all.

Performance Unlimited

Seems to be alot of reasons it is better to run a hotter TStat. Don't know really I am still running the stock Stat. I don't figure the gains are worth changing it and the factory knows better than me. If you are not having any issues with pinging then stay with the stock Stat or get a good tune.

I also heard that the oil will never get hot enough to evaporate the condensation from inside the block. I know you hear all sorts of things?

I just don't figure it is a good idea unless you operate in really high ambient temps or have tuning that requires it. The engine will reach its operating temperature later and will generally operate at higher temps than 160* anyway.

Just my .02

 

Thanks for the link, Mort! On the data sheet for my Wester's tune, he asked if I'd be running the 180* t'stat; now I know why!

 

Mine with stock stat ran at 205 to 210. With the 160 stat it runs at 180 to 185. So what dose your 180 stat run at?

 

I also saw very little in mpg change with a 160 stat + it tuned.