ok i live in houston tx and its hot as hell down here pretty much yeah all the time my boss man tells me that because its so hot that i dont need a t-stat in my truck because without it it will actually keep my truck colder (which since i pulled it out it keeps it alot colder) but i was wondering if this is actually ok do to or if its gonna hurt my engine in the long run? plus weve been having some cold fronts lately and i can drive a good distance to work and my truck never heats up at all now because the temp outside so pretty much what im asking is......is it ok to leave the t-stat out of my truck while its normal weather outside??? (normal is considered at least 90 lol)

 

I have read about people doing this before. Personally I would use one but thats just me. I'm paranoid like that. If its a safety feature I keep it. Which keeping your engine from over heating is safety at least i think so

 

nope.
if you overheat (or ping under load) then get a 180º stat. stock is 195º and you shouldn't go lower than 180º.

 

A t-stat is only regulates the minimum temp, there is no reason to remove it. Don't go any colder than 180*.

 

I'm not sure how these trucks run without them but if its the middle of summer in Texas I would think it would be alright. My friend has a mid 90s Chevy truck and he only puts a Tstat in during the winter for heat, but all the other times he drives around with no Tstat. I live in FL, and his gas mileage doesn't suffer a noticeable amount I dont think. I have a 160 in mine just because it would overheat during the summer so I did that to try and keep it a lil cooler. The only thing that might be a problem is the cold start loop or something like that that would keep you running rich if your engine didn't get hot, which could possibly hurt your mileage. I would just go 180.

 

the last few times i went to oklahoma for a week or two each time i had a 195º stat and i didn't overheat once. and it was 100-110º outside every day.

 

at my old job we had a 97 ram 1500 5.2 come in with it overheating. replaced water pump, t-stat and radiator. came back 3 months later same prob, and we had to warentee it for him. we took out the t-stat tosee if it worked, and it did. so we sent him home like that, and hasnt come back. but if running in weather below 40 degrees i would have a thermostat in it. but there is no harm in not having one unless driving in cold weather.

 

there are other things to consider....without one your engine temps are never the same....besides the fact that thats not good because metal expands and contracts under different temps and I would think it would be more stressful on engine and gaskets if the temps always different not to mention its going to effect the computers tuning of the engine...Once a certain temp is reached the fuel air mixtures are changed for one thing....not having a state isnt going to help the engine from overheating one bit....it just establishes and regulates a safe minimum temp for it? I fail to see the logic in not using one?

 

I have a 180 t-stat and it gave me this prob, I also saw no gains with it so i would just run the stock one unless you live somewhere really hot.