180 deg. stat- worse MPG?

[littleblueGT]

Those of you that installed a 180 deg. thermostat have you noticed a decrease in MPG? I received the plastic manifold, but not all of the screws needed to mount the MAP sensor and oil dip stick. As the thermostat housing had to be removed for manifold installation I might as well install a new thermostat! I like to have everything needed ahead of time before changing manifolds as I don't like surprises, and I don't want to lower the GT's miles per gallon over something like a thermostat. On the plastic manifold I noticed casting flash in the injector ports and in the lower manifold main ports, but they were easily trimed with an exacto knife.Chime in on what you have found!

[Mean Green]

I never noticed a decease in mpg when I installed the 180 t-stat.

[littleblueGT]

MeanGreen thanks for the reply. My MPG has not been this good since I bought the car! I don't know if it's the 180 deg. thermostat, or the new plastic manifold as I installed them at the same time, but I am really happy with the results.

[Cal Cruzer]

I just can't understand why you would want you PT to run richer than it already does, which is WAAAAAY rich.

Cooler intake air is good but just running the car cold is not. You want heat in the cubustion area, heat is power. What exactly are you trying to do? Remember you can't tune the richness out of our FI systems like you could a carb car unless you are running a piggyback or something. If you are too rich you will not only hurt performance, you will also hurt your engine. A righ engine will get "cylinder wash" which means the fuel is removing the lubricating oil from the cylinder walls and this will wear your engine out sooner. There really is no reason to run a colder stat as the car will still come up to temp where the low fan comes on, usually around 96 degrees. Just because the stat opens at 180 doesn't mean the car will run at that unless you are running on the freeway. In the kind of driving most people do, they don't move enough air though the radiator to lower the temp anyhow. So, unless you have a way to turn your fan on early, it is really a waste of time.

[Mean Green]

quote:Originally posted by Cal Cruzer

I just can't understand why you would want you PT to run richer than it already does, which is WAAAAAY rich.

Cooler intake air is good but just running the car cold is not. You want heat in the cubustion area, heat is power. What exactly are you trying to do? Remember you can't tune the richness out of our FI systems like you could a carb car unless you are running a piggyback or something. If you are too rich you will not only hurt performance, you will also hurt your engine. A righ engine will get "cylinder wash" which means the fuel is removing the lubricating oil from the cylinder walls and this will wear your engine out sooner. There really is no reason to run a colder stat as the car will still come up to temp where the low fan comes on, usually around 96 degrees. Just because the stat opens at 180 doesn't mean the car will run at that unless you are running on the freeway. In the kind of driving most people do, they don't move enough air though the radiator to lower the temp anyhow. So, unless you have a way to turn your fan on early, it is really a waste of time.

Go tell that to the guys running 400+ hp on their srt-4s. I haven't personally gone to the 180 T-stat on my srt-4, yet, but I did with my '03 GT. Engine did run cooler which is a good thing with the heat the turbo engines put out. True, the temp did go up in stop and go traffic, but for me that was the exception as I do most of my driving on highway and freeway. This mod isn't for somebody who sits in a lot of traffic.

[mr.troy]

NO complaints here!!!!

[littleblueGT]

CAL CRUISER I asked for input 3 months ago and MEAN GREEN was the only person to respond! You are a little late to get excited. The car ran great after the plastic manifold and 180 deg. stat. It worked great in stop and go traffic and freeway with more power and did run a little cooler once you started rolling. With the aluminum manifold on a hot day in california the PT was a little sluggish, but not now. If I could keep my foot out of it I'm sure I would get better mileage.

[SteelBlueGT]

I changed to the cooler thermo in my 2003 GT and noticed no difference exept it ran cooler under highway conditions. Normal traffic in the summer saw no real decrease in temp once I was in traffic for while. No decrease in MPG noticed just slighjtly longer warmups in winter. I liked the idea it was running a little cooler in most conditions and never warmer than stock!

[KingKole02]

I'm in need of a new thermostat from what my error code states. I have a N/A, do you think that having a 180 thermo would improve or hurt my performance?? I have already picked up the standard 195 Stant option. I was actually thinking of going middle rode and get a 190 degree one after I fix what is wrong currently.