Thread: Thermostat Questions

Hey you all I have a question.. Does anyone know what a stock 98 gtp's thermostat should run at?

My car never seems to hit 200 always runs below the first line.
My dad is a mechanic and has told me that It should be running a little hotter and that I could quite possibly get a little better gas mileage?

I'm guessing someone must have put the cooler thermostat in this car at one time.

Has anyone noticed gas mileage difference by adding a cooler one?
Any performance changes between a hotter and cooler one?

I like the way my car runs, but it does suck gas. Also my owners manual says they have an 18 gallon tank.. I have only been able to put in 12 gallons on the E mark.

Originally Posted by Jakegday

yes, my MPGs noticeably went down when i switched to a 180, nothing major, but i did notice it. i felt absolutely no change in performance.

Because you're not boosted nor have ported heads and a cam.

Colder T-stat is a KR killer. Not the best one, but not a terrible one either. If you're not knocking, it won't help.

Originally Posted by Jakegday

yeah i figured that had something to do with it. but still though, numerous people on this site told me to do it anyways

I hear ya, i did the same thing at first.

Have my stocker back in till i get me some boost.

Well I had a T-Stat that was stuck open and keeping the temperature of my car below 160* (IIRC). My gas mileage was horrible... I hated it. I thought this was the price to pay for a supercharged car. I replaced the T-Stat with a new 195* failsafe T-Stat and I could really tell the difference between the gas mileage. It got a lot better to my surprise! No performance gains though... at least not that I noticed.

Because you weren't knocking

Also why would you bother with a failsafe? For a dollar or so more you can get one with a lifetime warranty.

oh, well that's good to hear that I'm not knocking.. Because I don't have a way to scan.. and don't feel like dropping $200+ on an aeroforce gauge.. even though I'm convincing myself it's worth it lol.

And because my Autozone had a normal one for $8 and a failsafe for $11.. and that was it lol. So I got failsafe. I think it has a warranty on it.. but I forgot how long. And I was just looking at that little thermostat and wondering.. people actually drill those? Where? and for what? To get constant cooling to the engine?

"Ah.. I see said the blind man to his deaf daughter.."

where exactly do your drill it? iv always heard about it but never seen one up close.

Well I just thought about this.. Don't mean to argue with ya Bio, but he showed me the difference between the normal T-Stat and the FailSafe T-Stat. The normal one was just normal..

http://tooldesk.com/blog/wp-content/...thermostat.jpg

The Failsafe T-Stat:
http://www.wilsonmanifolds.com/shop/...thermostat.jpg


Those bronze added thingy's help it stay open if failed. I don't know if they are drilled or not.

they apparently have a mechanism so that they fail open.