white26golf beat me to the punch on a reply. Since the 530080 is a NAPA part I went to my local NAPA store and the counter guy checked out the thermostat database told me that the 530080 is not a fit for 3.7 or 4.7. Why would he lie? I'm sure he would want to make a sale,right? That being said, you are correct that a sealant is not required in the install. Mea culpa.

 

He didn't lie. If you look up the part no 530080 it does not match the dakota. I think the part number comes back to a ford or something. If the Napa guy will look up the phyical size/specifications and pictures of the factory orignial stat and compare it to the other stat specifications the 530080 will work. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if when the jet stat comes out, it's the 530080 renumbered. I hope this helps. Mike

 

In a previous post I mistyped and showed the new Jet thermostat as 11077.Should be 10177.

 

Even with the thermostat......it's still gonna be at the half mark.
The 10 degree difference in the thermostats isn't gonna move the needle lower than the halfway mark.

In the dead of winter here in Michigan when it was like 20 degrees outside.....after the truck warms up, it would still be at the half mark.
It doesn't matter if it's 110 or even 10 degrees. It's always gonna be at the half mark when it's warmed up (unless there is a problem & you're overheating).


Your truck will operate and run fine in that weather....changing the thermostat alone will do absolutely nothing to improve your truck

 

well when we were getting 70-80 degree weather it was about 1/8 inch below the half mark. So I do think the outside temp makes a little bit of a difference.

 

my needle is no way near the 1/2 mark.its between the 1/2 and bottom. engine is running much cooler. nice throttle responce. the iat also helps out. only at wot does the temp go up but as i let of the gas you see the needle go back to were it was

 

OK, so I got the superstat: 530080. My question is when you guys replace the stat, how much coolant drained out of the lower hose. Asking, because I want to reuse the coolant and neet to know how big of a container to use to catch it. I went to pepboys to get new coolant, but the HOAT **** would cost $50 to flush and refill.

 

the hole system is gonna flush. you will need a clean 5 gallon flat pail or drive the truck up on ramps to get a tall 5 gallon pail to fit. becarefull when pulling stat. fluid rushes out and could splash in your eyes. i wore a full face shield when i did mine.

 

OK, so I finished the install. Pretty easy to do. Don't know what gasket I would have to scrape off of the stat housing, because there wasn't one. only a rubber seal that goes around the stat. Just used my dremel and tapered grinding bit to make the notch to line up the seal, looks almost like it was made that way. It was pretty easy to catch "almost" all of the coolant because of the petcock on the bottom of the radiator. Used a washing pale to catch it, only 3/4 full. The stat does work, as in it did lower my temps enough that I could see it on the guage, also better throttle response. Don't know about mpg yet, I need to drive a week and I will repost with results. CONCLUSION: This is definitely worth the $10 and 30-45 min work time.

 

Hi guys.
New in town here. Appreciate the discussion on the thermostat.
First of all, I've got a 2005 dakota quad 285 V8 (oh, I'm sorry, I meant a 4.7L) engine.
I just intalled my new "Jet" thermostat. Could not believe how easy it was! Didn't lose all that much coolent either.

I went and called every part store here in Long Beach, CA. and no one carried the "Jet" thermostat even though on the email I received from JET stated that the parts stores should carry them. Nope. So, talked to the guys at Jet and asked if I could go by and purchase the themos from them. No probelm. I was expecting to see a bunch of grease monkeys. Nope, kinda nerdish guys. Saw where they do the research and testing. .

Anyway, anough BS. the part cost $34 and change. Got a "free" lincense plate frame (wow!), as I said, it wasn't difficult to put in at all. I'll be going on vacation at the end of the week (july1) up to the mountains and to get there I'm going through the mojave desert towing a 25 ft Airstream. We'll see if there's a difference in performance and cooling. I'll let you guys know.

Anyway, thanks for being here. Glad I found you guys.

R/
Safari-Rick
05 Dakota Quad
Jet II chip
K&N air injection system
Gibson Cat-Back
Jet 180 degree Thermostat
AMSOIL Synthetics - All fluids