yea i know its been covered but for some reason i couldn't find nothing on it. Its time for me to replace the cooling system on my truck and that includes the t-stat. I live in COLD climate(aka gets -30 or better in winter). It can also hit 100 in the summer, so should i go with a 180 or a 195? What are the pros and cons of both? I would like a little more power and better mpg. Also so far this is what im replacing even if its not needed... all cooling hoses, flush rad, t-stat and housing, coolant, and then should i replace the water pump? I am taking the serpentine belt and replacing it too... Or should i wait to to the water pump when i do my plenum?

thanks!

 

195 for heat and mpg's

180 little more power if you can feel it and a little less mpg's

 

I'd go with the 180 thermostat -- when it's -30F outside it's going to spend most of its time mostly or completely closed anyway unless you block off most of the air from the front of the radiator or are working it hard. You probably know this already from cruising the interstate in February wishing the heater would work better.

If you have plans to do the plenum gasket, I'd suggest leaving the water pump until then. But if you're just waiting for a perfectly good plenum gasket to fail, you might as well do the water pump now if it needs it -- that gasket may never fail. It's not a 100% failure rate item, more like 20-30%.

I'd make the call on the water pump based upon how old the currently installed part is and how much crap there is in the system. If it's got more than 100,000 miles with a very clean system, or more than 60,000 with a crudded up system, I'd replace it. They all eventually fail, and it's a lot nicer to replace cooling system parts when the weather is nice rather than in sub-zero temperatures.

 

I replaced the water pump when I did the plenum plate replacement. It seemed to make sense--the alternator/compressor bracket has to come off anyway and the water pump is only 6-7 more bolts after that. Since you have to drain coolant to do the plenum job, it may make more sense to wait and do the whole cooling system service at the same time.

I'll have folks jump all over me I'm sure, but I replaced the thermostat with an OEM 195 degree unit. I actually believe now (since the temp. needle seems to run a little hotter now) that the previous owner of my truck had swapped for a 180 degree thermostat somewhere along the line.

I have to believe there was a reason for specifying a 195 degree thermostat from the factory. If we go nuts trying to follow factory torque specs. from the service manual, it makes sense to stick with stock temperatures in my mind. Just an opinion though. I just don't want to give my local service dept. any reason to reject warranty on my truck.

Hope this helps (or at least generates discussion!)

Dave

 

Thanks guys! I am slightly worried that I will get the CEL code for cold to long in the winter if i go 180.... Oh yea im also going home brew CAI here soon(prolly do all this work when i fix the plenum which just started to go)

 

i never have had a cel for a 180 t-stat but i do live in north carolina

 

Just put in a fail-safe 180 stat in, and you can notice a miniscule improvement in cooling as well as the slightest loss of mileage. Truck running cooler=longer life. Also did the dual e-fan install at same time with new water outlet, excellent rad flush 'n fill (new water pump 5K ago) and my truck runs about 170-175 degress at operating temp. prob 8-10 cooler after those mods. And still gained MPG due to dual e-fans

Nothing wrong with 195 stat. Factory specs never fail, well most of the time.