160 thermo

[Silent2g]

alright, i know stock is 190

i also know there are 160's out there for a dsm.

im looking at it this way. im probably due for a new one

spend 13 bucks on a new 190 from mitsu
send 14 bucks on a 160 from an aftermarket vendor

positives and negatives are welcome here.

im looking for a basic consensus, and yes i know it affects performance

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

DSM's don't really like the 160's get a 180 the work pretty good with those.

 

[984G634LIFE]

Stupid question but what are u guys talkin about?

 

[Silent2g]

the thermostat
it has a temperature rating for when it closes
be it 190-180-160 degrees when it closes.
lower the number "in theory" the better it "should" run

 

[Silent2g]

BTw. why IS a 160 not great in a dsm?
can't be any worse then not runnin a thermo at all

 

[GRNDSM]

Because our ECU does not go into closed loop until around 160deg. If you were to keep it at 160, you run a risk of running in open loop ALL THE TIME. That will give you terrible mileage and poor performance.

Now, I say “if” because all aftermarket thermostats are much smaller than factory, so they are much less efficient. If you want lower temperature thermostat, you should buy factory 180 unit (MD997607 for 1Gs, I am not sure if 2G is the same). Cononcelly stocks them so they might know.

But there is a 3rd issue, thermostat is not all that important because our radiator fan is what really controls the temps (especially in the summer). And our stock fan does not come on until around 190-195 deg.

So unless you can also change the fan settings, do not bother with it . Just a get a factory 180 deg unit and call it the day.

Leon
RR

 

[Silent2g]

ahhhh
now i know
and knowing is half the battle

 

[HighPsi91]

Just because you put a 160degree T-stat in your car doesnt mean its going to run at 160degrees.

BTW I used 160's in my cars inpast years with no problems... they were 1G's however. I wouldnt be surprised if 2g's dont like it... 2G's are picky.

 

[GRNDSM]

>Just because you put a 160degree T-stat in your car doesnt
>mean its going to run at 160degrees.

Right, that is where the fan switch comes into play. But this can be a problem in the winter.


>BTW I used 160's in my cars inpast years with no problems...

What temps were you running in the winter?

Leon
RR

 

[Silent2g]

the car in question is a 90 tsi.
i was just asking to make sure i didn't waste 14 bucks on it for no reason

 

[candela]

Well I have some stock replace ment sh!tty one, that I think isnt working. I think stock for a 1g is 195...where can i get a 180 or somrthing a bit less than the stock 195. BTW I have adjustable temp control on my spal fan...thanks in advance

 

[HighPsi91]

Originally posted by GRNDSM
>BTW I used 160's in my cars inpast years with no problems...

What temps were you running in the winter?

Leon
RR

I cant recall ever seeing anything under 170ish even in winter. In fact I never really saw any difference between the 160 and 170 thermostats. The cars temps stayed pretty much the same... At least on my car. The condition of your radiator can have a big effect on temperatures...and mine was factory with 100k+ miles of relative neglect.

Now I use no thermostat and I never see below 164degrees. Thats without AC and with a fluidyne.

 

[Kingdom]

Originally posted by HighPsi91

Now I use no thermostat and I never see below 164degrees. Thats without AC and with a fluidyne.

even in the winter?

 

[NDgsx]

ECU doesn't completely get out of warm up maps until 176 degrees.

Stock fan temp sensor is 195, but it's at the bottom of the radiator. Water leaving engine can be at 205 before it turns on. If the stock temp sensor in the radiator has the thread pitch I think it does then you could take the sender out and put it in the thermostat housing where that vacuum fitting goes. Then use the vacuum fitting to plug the radiator, solder some wires, now you fan really turns on at 195. Note I haven't tried this yet, just an idea.

 

[Silent2g]

nick. novel idea
what the hell do those vacuum lines do anyways on the coolant thingy??

 

[GRNDSM]

>what the hell do those vacuum lines do anyways on the coolant thingy?

Those are for EGR control. If you got rid of EGR, you can get rid of those lines.

Leon
RR

 

[HighPsi91]

Originally posted by Kingdom


even in the winter?

Sorry, that is a bit misleading. The car never sees outside air temps under 50 degreees anymore. It doesnt have heat anymore so it gets a bit chilly. Plus I now use a Haltech so I dont have to worry about cold maps, etc.

As Leon and ND pointed out with the factory ECU there is a chance of coolant temps that are too cold, therefore not allowing the ECU to operate with the proper maps. I think you would only really have to worry about that in the winter though. In fact recently I put a colder thermostat in a customers car and according to the datalogger temps barely droped at all. After installing a fluidyne temps dropped almost 10 degrees. However in the summer months coolant temps still hovered between 185 and 195.

If you really want to impact coolant temps you need to adjust the temps that the fans operate. There are several different ways of doing that. In fact a freind of mine put an adjustable fan control on his talon with a factory radiator, etc and was able to knock a good 20+ degrees off of his average coolant temps.

 

[BlueShark]

So where can I get 160 ones?

 

[Puke]

Originally posted by Silent2g
the thermostat
it has a temperature rating for when it closes
be it 190-180-160 degrees when it closes.
lower the number "in theory" the better it "should" run

Not to be a dick, but I think the temp. rating is for when thermostat OPENS.

 

[Silent2g]

Originally posted by Puke


Not to be a dick, but I think the temp. rating is for when thermostat OPENS.

pull off your radiator cap, and watch it
its open till around the time the fans kick on. then closes
remains closed for about 30 seconds or so, then opens back up to let the "cooler" coolant back through the system.

 

[candela]

Guys please help me out... I have a IRC streetcore, fluidyne and an adjustable spal fan, no a/c and Im still overheating.

After I put all this in, it went in with fresh coolant/water mix and water wetter and it ran perfectly cool for the majority of this 105+ AZ heat no matter what i did. Then I accidentally broke off one of those vacuum lines that goes to that plastic piece on the side of the thermo housing (underneath), so I t-ed off the remaining line and plugged the broken one. Since then its been running really hot, like 230-240 and this sucks. Ill order a new part, but are there any other recommendations? Maybe that thermo that I bought (auto zone) was a bad idea...thanks in advance

 

[NDgsx]

You need a real mitsu thermostat. The throat opening on the aftermarket ones is really small and restricts flow.

 

[Silent2g]

a OEM thermo and possibly check out the water pump
after a good HARD run mine starts to move a bit

i know its time for a new thermo and water pump
the radiator is brand new