I believe part of the debate was to set straight the fact that on these trucks a 160 never actually runs at 160. Hell I put mine on the stove to test opening temp and it didnt even start to open till 167. I dont care because I dont want it running at 160 but at the same time if I did then WTF

 

I assume that you either live in the desert or never drive a car in anything except the city. I have my fans set to come on at 198º and turn off at 174º. In a week or so of driving back and forth to work, they might come on once unless I decide to run the a/c. I can log my drive from work to home which is about 20 minutes and never see more than 180º ect including driving in town (not on the highway). I also run 2 bottles of water wetter in the system, but that's not why it runs as cool as it does.

 

03 Silverado SS with a 160 t-stat.

I log in the cold (below freezing) and in the heat of the summer (90 +) and I always range from 172 - 182 in the cold and 174-186 in the heat.

My fans now come on at 180 and off at 172. When cruising at 60MPH in the summer, the fans never come on. When I hit traffic they stay on.

 

You are right, 160 is the closing temperature of the thermostat, the opening temperature is several degrees higher.

 

I've been looking around and it seems their is some rumors about 160 t-stats are'nt a good idea.I've seen statements that using them will shorten your engine life by as much as 50%.Sounds like garbage to me but I'd like too hear other opinions.Has anybody else heard this ?

 

bump,

 

You'll get lousier gas mileage, that's fer sure.............

 

Not true. Gas milage shouldn't be a problem. The engine goes into closed loop at 141º and is at a commanded 14.68:1 air fuel ratio before 160º. Most of the vehicles I've worked on run the 160º thermostat and gas milage isn't a problem, mine included.

 

I have mine set too low.. its been some kinda hot down here in the south tho.
What ever your ECT is while cruising down the highway id add 15-20* to that for your ON setting and prob subtract 5* from that for your OFF?

You dont want them on all the time if its not gettin any cooler.
I have a BB in my stock thermostat and it runs about 175-185ish. Takes too long to come up to temp in the winter, i need to get a actual 160* Tstat to fix that.


How do ya figure that? i still get the same if not better.

 

i always wonder about the mileage rumor too. my silverado got 21mpg highway with a ls1 and a 160 stat. that seems good to me.

as far as bubbles in the coolant goes i have my own little thing i do for it. after it seems full and the eng is up to temp i have the wife rev it to about 3000rpm. you can see it bubble like crazy and it will empty the fill tank in no time. when doing this i fill it to the brim. what ever you do, do NOT release the pedal until th cap is on tight. if you do it will shoot it all back out. after a few days the level will fall to the "full" line and is good to go.

my silverado that had the 160 stat also ran about 178-182. with the bigger rad and 05 efans. with the stock 28" rad and home mad efans it ran hot no mater what. this is lgging with hptuner.