I recently installed a 160 degree thermostat. I see a lot of people going for the SLP and other over priced thermostats. I did a little research and found that murray from Oreilly's sells one that says motorad right on it. The only way I could get it to come up in the computer was for 2004 SILVERADO SS with a 6.0. the part number is 45660. It was $13.99 thats a lot better price than most other places. I just thought Id share the info.

 

im ' running lingerfelter thermostat, but they all look the same.

 

is this a 99-02 or 03-07?

 

03-07...... I am thinking that there will be a simular price savings on others too

 

The 99-03 t-stats are one piece with the housing, and are considerably more expensive than the 04+. I'm curious how much they cost from O'Reilley's as compared to places like SLP and whatnot. AFAIK, most of the aftermarket t-stats are made by the same company and just boxed for the different vendors who resell them. IIRC, the stats are actually made in Germany

 

Or rig them with a BB and drill some holes. I modded a stock one for my samurai and put it i. My silverado to test it.
Towed a s10 to trade it for a mustang 150 miles south of here. ECT never got over 165* while cruising. Sittin at the drive thru it got up to 180 and dropped back down to 165 soon as we hit the highway.
Not to mention its free.
For a 99-03 anyway. Havent fooled with a 03+ so disregard all that jibberish.

 

Is a 160 thermostat a good idea? Stock, my temp sits right at what looks like 210 on the gauge. Would 160 permit enough vapor to be evaporated from the oil, expecially in the wintertime?

 

BB t-stat mod https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...-tstat-368179/

 

Are there any downsides to a 160 thermostat?

 

Well, there has been a lot of debate about that here...it seems like we have figured out that the LS platform seems to perform best a little warmer, like between 180*-210*, as it was designed to work with warmer coolant temps. I plan to eventually swap out my 160 stat for a 180 stat.

Folks argue that the 160 stat may not allow the oil to get warm enough to burn off moisture, which hasn't been a problem for me driving my truck year round, in 0* temps in the winter. Others say that the cooler engine temps don't allow all of the metals to expand as far as they should, particualarly the pistons, but I feel that combustion temps take care of that

If you search the GM Engine and Exhaust Performance section for "160* thermostat", you should find enough threads with enough debate to keep you busy until 2012.