180* Thermostat Install
 

Anyone like to :help:?

Fallow upper radiator hose it goes to a metal housing thats where the thermostat is at. Its 2 bolts (i think 10mm) do it when the car is cold or you will burn your hands.

On the bottom of the radiator?

no, its right on top of the block...follow the upper rad hose to the block you will see a metal neck, its under there.

its actually on the motor...follow the hose from the top of the radiator to the top of the engine...take out those 2 bolts and you'll see the stock thermostat...put the new one in JUST LIKE the old one and if you have a new gasket(better to use a new one) make sure you put it in like the stock gasket. I just swapped out stock stat for a 180 before leaving for iraq...

Do I have to drain the radiator?

i didnt when i did mine...less than a cup of coolant fell to the ground when i replaced mine, let it cool off though. I did mine when it was still warm(didnt care too much about getting hot hands) but when i removed the hose some coolant did come out but not much at all...

no like i said just do when the motor is cold. very easy to do.

exactly...wait til cold, remove bolts, swap out stat, bolt back up and enjoy cooler running engine...

ok thanks ya'll :beerchug:

A little fluid will drip, but that is it.

do you have to tune your car when you do this? will the stock electronics be ok .

ive heard the engines electronics are designed to operate under 192 degrees....

so that would be a no on the tune then.

i was told by a tuner its not necessary to tune after installing a stat. He said something about a "rumor" where if your engine runs too cool from installing a lower temp stat that the engine comp will send more gas to the motor to "warm it up"...he said thats false.

Does the t-stat just sit in there? Does it screw in? Or what?

it justs in there. All you do is unbolt take out the old one and put the new one in just like the other one was. Very simple 15min mod if even.

I think lower stats only keep your engine cooler longer. They don't keep it cool. Reason being they open sooner, but eventually your coolant reaches the same temp it would normally. I might be wrong, but I think I'm right.

No a thermostat opens and closes at set temps stock being 195* it opens to let coolant inot the radiator to flow threw and cool down. Once it gets below that level it cools and starts to close this is what regulates the engines operating temp. A 180* will do the same but open and close around 180*.

Correct.
Higher temp Tstats get the motor up to operating temperature faster which results in less emissions.
Modern motors are designed to work most efficiently at a certain temperature and the PCM and associated sensors expect to see that temperature.
I'm not claiming that in certain situations a lower temp Tstat isn't beneficial, but overall for a DD it's best to leave the stock unit in there.
A 180 probably won't hurt anything but a 160 is going to more than likely flip a code.

Ford uses 195 for emissions. Running a bit cooler is better, but running too cool is not good. 180 on a DD is fine. BUT, if you don't increase the size of the radiator, it really won't matter much anyway.

I have a temp guage and after installing a 180, I noticed that my engine ran at....180, BUT, under load and in hot weather, the cooler t-stat does not do shit because my radiator is still stock. So, at 180, the T stat opens, but the rest of the cooling system can't reall keep up.

On a cool day, the temp stays right at 180.

is your tune setup to turn the fans on a lower temp and off at 180* now?

Sooooo, does 160* mean cooler? MY friend has a 5.0 and just ordered a 195* tstat.....is this going to help any?

160* is cooler then 180*. 195* is the stock thermostats rang and wont change anything.

I think that a 180* is fine for a dd but 160* might be pushing it a little far unless you got some crazy mods that require it. Correct me if I'm wrong but a 160* on a not so modded car the cpu while still think the engine is in it's warm up period.And them never reach it's required operational temp.Then it could result in some major problems. Thats what I'm thinking.But I'm not sure of the operational temps on a 2v. But I'd like to know.

You shouldn't run a 160 stat since it will cause increased wear since all the parts in the engine are designed to run at a higher temperature when everything is expanded (as in tolerances are too close to cause things like piston scuffing, etc.). However, if you take that into consideration when building the engine, then go ahead and run it.

basicly the days of 160* are gone and not needed. A 180* stat is a good cheap mod to help the number 7 & 8 cyclinders from getting even hotter then they allready do. Thats the only reason i have one. IF you have a power adde a 180* stat is a good investment.

How to:topicclosed:

thats for a 3.8 but pretty much thats how all thermostats are.