I keep hearing people talk about a 180 thermostat, should i get this and im wondeirng what the factory therm is cause it sucks.
I have fresh antifreeze and of course my 2000 dont have electric fans so when i idle it goes over 210 mark. Just wondering if this would help gas mileage and performance. Lol also wondering why i cant find a airaid intake for a 3.9 liter thought i saw one for it.

 

I have migrated over from the Acura and G35 forums because I have friend here...that being said, many Acura members also replace their thermo with one that opens at a lower temp. You won't see noticeable gains out of it but basics say cooler engine=more power. A lot of members there have also installed thermoblock spacers which help cool things down a bit, but I am not sure if they make one for you application. I will find the site and post that for you later. As for the airaid intake for the 3.9, talk to TexasNative. That's my buddy and I know he has one installed on his Dakota.

Edit:I checked the site that the Aucra site refers to for the thermoblock spacer and it seems that particular site only makes it for cars.

 

Stock is around 195, and 210 isn't unreasonable. My buddy runs a 160 in his power wagon, but I wouldn't. My ram's got a 180 and it takes a while to warm up, I'd never be able to drive if I had a 160.

 

A different thermostat won't effect how long it takes to reach temp, just when your fan kicks on. Of course you will be running cooler because of the lower temp on the thermo but the time that it takes to get to that temp won't be different.

 

I will try one soon as some shops finally order one lol. Just wanna get more out of m y truck since its so weak about 45000 miles and i only average 16.7 mpg on highway with automatic.

 

Well if your operating temp is higher than the tstat then you'd have problems running. If my Ram isn't warmed up to 180+ it generally doesn't like to stay running when you put it in gear.

 

ahh...honestly never thought of it that way, but I am not sure what the normal operating temp would be. I could definitely see that being a problem but I would have to research what the normal operating temp was then base my purchase off of that. Thanks for the info.

 

180 is safe. I was just reading Hot Rod last night and they were talking about thermostats - apparently running 160 can be detrimental to your motor since the metal expands with heat and when you run cold the clearances aren't as loose, causing premature wear on the cyls. The other thing is that the oil needs to stay above 150 degrees.

 

swapping to a 180 thermostat is a common mod to magnum engines. i've read the only reason for the stock 195 is for emissions control. it's fairly easy to do on a 3.9/5.2/5.9 engine--i did it to my 3.9 v6. 3.7/4.7 engines are a little tougher due to the location of the thermostat housing.

160 degrees can be used, but more often will cause a check engine code on mildly modified engines.

 

You might not see much difference in running temp in hot weather witha cooler thermostat. If you have a stock 195 stat and the engine runs hotter than this, like 210, the thermostat should be well opened. The 180 and 160 will be open too.

When the engine runs significantly hotter than the stat rating, you've maxed out your ability to reject heat. 210 isn't bad, but if it keeps rising, look at fans, fan clutch, dirty/plugged/too small radiator.

In cold weather, your engine will run cooler with the 160 or 180 stat but your computer system is sophisticated and changes in operating temp could cause rich running, wasting fuel, and other bad things.