Yeah, which it turn would turn your gas mileage to ****. At least that's what I thought would happen.

 

Negative. Like I said, the only reason for 160 is if you overheat for various reasons. Doesnt cause open loop when its not overheating either. I stop running open loop arround 145ish.

 

exactly,but if you need a 160 thermostat to keep ur temperture down, ur just bain-aiding the problem.

overheat at lowspeed = air circulation problem
overheat at highspeed = coolant circulation problem

 

Cool. I learned something today.

You probably only over heat whenever you're running your engine up past redline right?

 

No properly working thermostat is going to solve an overheat condition. It only affects minimum temp not max temp.
A160 won't keep you truck in open loop but it might set a code for low engine temp. Remember stock programming is expecting engine temps in the 195 range. I ran a 180 based on suggestions but didn't notice any performance increase. The heat sucked in the winter so I put the original 195 back in.
Do whatever pleases you but don't expect much (if any)for power increase

 

This concept that you need a warmer t-stat in colder climates doesn't make any sense to me. This is the classic confusion that a t-stat controls your minimum temp. That's false, it only attemps to control your max temp. I live in a fairly cold climate, single digit and minus zero temps in the winter, and my experience is that IF my truck ever reaches anything close to 180 on those cold mornings in the winter time, it is more then hot enough to be very comfortable in the cab. In fact, anything over about 165 is plenty warm. Unless I have the grill inserts in on those very cold mornings, my 180 t-stat will often not even open because the engine just can't warm up to 180 degrees. So having a 195 or a 205 t-stat in on those same mornings would make no difference because I would still be operating at the same temp regardless of the t-stat. It's not until you reach the t-stats temp designation does it even do anything.

I've never tested a 160 t-stat in my truck, only a 180. But plenty of others on here have tried the 160 (do a search, and you see some posts), and the usual result is a stored code for engine not reaching operating temp (not the same thing as open vs closed loop mode by the way). I think this operating temp warning is there for a reason, and I wouldn't want to run under that limit for long. Some even get the same code with a 180. I run a 180, and am happy with its results overall. You not going to gain performance from it though, that is another misconception. The main reason to do it is in order to attempt to lower combustion chamber temps so that you have less chance of premature detination (usually caused by other performance mods). The t-stat by itself is not a performance mod.

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree.
If you can't achieve 180 deg (assuming you drive it long enough) at -10F your thermostat may not be closing fully or opening too soon. Sadly, it can be very difficult to get a good thermostat these days. Poor parts quality and off shore manufacturing are to blame.
In my climate -30C demands a 195 or hotter thermostat. -30 fresh air needs all the engine heat it can get if you want any reasonable cabinheat or windshield defrosting.

 

Well, I suppose it is possible that a t-stat that is stuck open would cause engine temps to act that way, but I know mine is not stuck open. You can feel the radiator hoses, and they are cool until temps reach about 175-180. Then they get hot because the t-stat has opened, and the coolant is flowing. When I had the 195 stock t-stat, it was the same way.

 

Now that we have Jacked this thread...
Do you find you have a lot of coolant temp gauge fluctuation?
One of the problem with these cheap thermostat is even if they open close to the rated heat they don't close quick enough when the temp cools off and that causes engine temp to drop too much.
I've even tested a few on the stove with a thermometer and a pot of hot water. They start to open around rated temp (say 180) but then take the pot off the stove and let the water cool. Quite a few thermostats were still partially open as low as 150. that iswhat finallyled me to remove my 180 and put in the original 10 year old factory 195thermostat. Including the poor heater output.

 

I have an 180* stat in my truck and dont see any fluctuation , thats with my E-fans set to run at 200* and with the temp as high as in the 20s , i still get good heat and the fans kick on only when im sitting in traffic then the temp drops down to 180* in matter of seconds...