Well I was driving my truck today and at a stop sign I noticed my cel was on, so at the next gas station I whipped out the old sct in my glove box and scan my truck and got a P1281 code.

So I go and do a little search on the internet to find out its a code For my truck running to cold for too long.

Ive had my 180* stat for almost two years now and have never had it throw this code.

I did flush my heater core a radiator about two months ago and added 1 container prestone non-diluted antifreeze, one 8 oz bottle of water wetter and fIlled the rest up with straight tap water.

Do you think the water super coolant is making my computer freak out and throw the code?

Also I read on google that some t-stat's open up a couple degrees sooner than they should, and some open later, and that I should just buy a new stat a test it in hot water before I install it.
Or replace the 180 with a 195,

but I dont think my tuner will like the
195 as sean told me when I purchased it from him that his tunes work best with the 180.

So what do yall think?

 

Edit:
This was also in southwest texas and the hottest it was today was 80*

 

Water wetter? Go figure.

First, one gallon of coolant is not sufficient. Water/anti freeze ratio should be 50/50.
Tstat opening a couple degrees early or late is insignificant, as long as it opens and closes within a short range around the set.

I would make sure that there isn't air trapped in coolant system or suspect temp sensor. If sensor does not provide a reading in line with waht PCM is looking for it could set that code. Need to see what temperature actually is.

 

I don't recommend a 180º t-stat in colder weather. My truck doesn't run hot enough with one in the winter and I get "snot" (condensation) in the oil because it doesn't get hot enough to boil it off.

 

I don't have a solution for your problem, but I can say that adding straight tap water was a boo-boo. The minerals in tap water don't belong in your cooling system and will accelerate the buildup of rust and scale.

 

I guess I've been lucky... mine seems to operate fine in buffalo... so far no related codes or "snot" in 2.5 years..

 

Yeah but here in texas it gets to 110* on a regular basis

 

In November????

 

T-stats only regulate the minimum temp, it won't stop your truck from overheating if your cooling system is insufficient.

 

I agree at most it will just buy you a bit of time before it overheats each time because it activates the cooling system a bit earlier.