The Oldsmobile Connection

abbike18 · Joined: 17 Oct 2004 Posts: 30

I have heard alot about low temp thermostats: they increase power, make the warm up stage longer, decrease detonation, they dont increase power. what is true and what isnt? my car has a 195 degree thermostat in it now and there are 180 and 160 degree thermostats available for it. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with these and what would you suggest? will they really increase hp?

thanks

Hans · Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 156 Location: Pocatello, Idaho

abbike18 wrote: I have heard alot about low temp thermostats: they increase power, make the warm up stage longer, decrease detonation, they dont increase power. what is true and what isnt? my car has a 195 degree thermostat in it now and there are 180 and 160 degree thermostats available for it. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with these and what would you suggest? will they really increase hp?

thanks

Well first of all a 180* is always a good idea, drilled is not a bad thing to do either, do 2 1/16th diam holes as well.

They keep your engine cooler, which reduces ware and also might keep your tranny a tad cooler since heat is transfered to the trans pretty bad in these cars.

On the newer cars with plastic intakes, it is really a manditory thing to do to prolong the life of them.

88 Coupe · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 4:17 am Post subject: Re: Low Temp Thermostats

Hi abbike18, Hans, hello all,

You might want to consider my philosophy:
If it actually worked, it would be common knowledge.
If it didn't work, there would be the misinformed, swearing on a stack of Bibles, it did, and those who knew better, would be saying it didn't.

I can't say either way, because I've posted too much misinformation about computer cars already.

My two computer cars have OEM replacement stats (and HEIs) and the non computer cars have 180s.

I suggest you try it for yourself. If it didn't work, you'd lose your time and less than ten bucks.

Quote: ........... drilled is not a bad thing to do either, do 2 1/16th diam holes as well ..........
Please explain.

Regards, Norm

onionman · Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 20 Location: Canton,OH

I have used a 160 inmy '80 Cutlass with the 260. This is probably a little too cool,because yes it takes longer to warm up, and the heater doesn't get as warm.But it ran fine and I liked the idea of running cooler in the hot summer months.I am going to put a 180 in my Hurst soon.
I really don't know about the HP gains or losses,but you might gain a couple.

speedy266 · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 347 Location: Ontario, Canada

Hey i was wondering about that to, and wheather i should do it or not. The whole drilling holes on the thermostat, i seen it done on the 2.5L 02 Altima and it seems like good idea to always keep temps close range instead of big changes when the thermostate opens. But the 2.5L was probably designed to stay at the right temp with that small hole. Adding a small hole on a 180 will pretty much be like a 160 or 170.

88 Coupe · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 1:36 pm Post subject:

Hi speedy266, all,

Quote: ......... drilling holes in the thermostat .........
Waiting for the second poster to explain why it should be done, and hopefully how much power will be gained.

Regards, Norm

88 Coupe · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 1:45 pm Post subject:

Hi onionman, hello All,

Quote: ........ it takes longer to warm up .........
That's a typo, right?

Regards, Norm

Brando · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 3051 Location: Michigan, USA

http://zzperformance.com/articles1.php?id=25

TOC Admin
Brando

88 Coupe · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 10:24 pm Post subject:

Hi Brando, All

Quote: http://zzperformance.com/articles1.php?id=25
Any chance you can get this guy to join the site? I have some questions I'd like to ask him.

zzperformance.com wrote: If you live in a colder climate this $11 investment might just save your cylinder heads from being cracked and damaged from the sudden dive in coolant temperature as your winter chilled radiator dumps it’s freezing coolant through your heads.

A drilled stat would be much more forgiving by providing a continuous flow of coolant and reducing sudden and drastic temperature changes."
Do any of you guys in the colder climates see anything wrong with the above statements?

88 Coupe wrote: ............ "less than 10 bucks" for a stat ..........
Today I checked with my local Mom & Pop supplier and the price is $4.33 + 8% State sales tax.

Regards, Norm

speedy266 · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 347 Location: Ontario, Canada

Well according to that article to not have the cylinders and heads heat up so quickly drilling a hole would help this. I think the ideal condition is a constant temp no drastic cools or heat ups. But a tiny drilled hole isnt gonna do much when uve got the throttle open and the temps around the combustion chamber are rising super fast. Would be better to run no stat when going down the quater mile, that way the temp change wont be as drastic.

88 Coupe · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 3:58 am Post subject:

Hi speedy266, All,

Quote: ........... a tiny drilled hole isn't gonna do much ..........
You've got the idea. You pictured how much coolant can pass through those two holes vs how much would be needed to actually make a temperature change.
The small holes in some factory stats are to let air out of the system while it's being filled with liquid.
If the holes are not present, it's because a different design allows air to escape around the closed stat.

Quote: ......... Would be better to run no stat when going down the quarter mile ..........
Exactly, you're thinking for yourself instead of listening to someone else, and it shows.

Anyone from the colder climates? I've always lived in warm climates and I still need one of you to verify my theory.

Regards, Norm

73Delta88 · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 7:36 am Post subject:

88 Coupe wrote: Anyone from the colder climates?
I don't drive my olds in the winter, but I do notice in my winter truck that the engine will heat up to 200F or so and then DROP as the stat opens, and the -10F degree coolant from the radiator dumps into the engine, my gauge will drop from 200 down to 125F or so in a matter of 15 seconds. but then it stabilizes at 195F within a couple minutes.

I have a long steep hill not far from my house that I'm going up when I usually notice this, so the engine is probably getting a "rapid warm up"

onionman · Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 20 Location: Canton,OH

I agree with you 88 coupe, but is it safe to run without one, or is that just for the track?
And about the "typo", I just feel that in cooler temps and a cooler thermastat it does take longer,actually if the stat is too cool you might never reach optimal operating temp. Some cars don't like that. I still run 160 in my '68 just because of factors like chrome, and it is a original engine with 77,000 and I just feel better about it running a little cooler.
I believe it is up the each person and his/her application, and a little trial and error. :-k

speedy266 · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 347 Location: Ontario, Canada

About the cold climate theory, i dunno if the change is enough to crack heads, but it is quite big. The engine will take quite a while to get to 100C(212F) on a cold day, when the stat opens the gauge will dive down to about 60C(140F). After all the coolant has had a chance to be heated slighty the change when the stat opens is only drops down to 70C or so. Alotta people put cardboards in front of there grill probably to get good heating inside the car on cold days.

88delta88 · Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Posts: 2401 Location: Canada

I had this problem, and I actually changed out the thermostat to the higher temp, so that on colder days I could actually get warm inside the car.

Temperatures here get down to -35 Celcius in the depth of the winter. And when thats the case, even with the hotter stat, the air still blows COLD out the vents.

But now that its warm out again, the fan is running more often than not. I think I will definately need to revert to the cooler stat for summer. I remember the old stat never made my fan kick in, unless I was idle for a period of time. Either way, NO difference in HP, response or anything else for that matter.