[JSH]

HPTuners tells me today that my car actually cruises at ~185F and drops to 160s-170s when I run it thru the gears at redline

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by Badmojo

Buy a Katech 174 thermostat, keep the stock neck with the factory bypass, keep your stock tune. Done.

Originally Posted by Badmojo

This is a solution looking for a problem.

Old thread, but for anyone reading this down the road, the above is bad advice. One belt incident with your PD blower and the shitty OEM thermostat housing will break, spewing coolant all over. I’d consider that a problem needing a solution. The billet housing fixes this issue forever.

[ZLRob]

So what is the OE thermostat temp? Are they really that beneficial for us if running flex fuel? The T stat is something I never thought of but given that it is plastic and there is always a possibility of leakage or bursting because it's plastic, the switch to a nice billet piece would be cool.

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by ZLRob

So what is the OE thermostat temp? Are they really that beneficial for us if running flex fuel? The T stat is something I never thought of but given that it is plastic and there is always a possibility of leakage or bursting because it's plastic, the switch to a nice billet piece would be cool.

The plastic OEM one has a small plastic bypass nipple that immediately breaks if your blower belt lets go so it’s a nice upgrade for any belt driven supercharged car IMO.

The lower temp thermostat isn’t worth much in the way of power but I like that it lets me bring the fans on a bit sooner, keeping airflow going through the intercooler heat exchanger too. Stock is 192 degrees if I remember correctly, use 174 if you’re on a stock tune and 160 if tuned. With my 160, my car averages 175-180 operating temps most of the year, which is perfect IMO (only drive it in nice weather FWIW).

[ZLRob]

Originally Posted by Joshinator99

The plastic OEM one has a small plastic bypass nipple that immediately breaks if your blower belt lets go so it’s a nice upgrade for any belt driven supercharged car IMO.

The lower temp thermostat isn’t worth much in the way of power but I like that it lets me bring the fans on a bit sooner, keeping airflow going through the intercooler heat exchanger too. Stock is 192 degrees if I remember correctly, use 174 if you’re on a stock tune and 160 if tuned. With my 160, my car averages 175-180 operating temps most of the year, which is perfect IMO (only drive it in nice weather FWIW).

This is great info. I'll have to investigate a 174 because I still want to make sure I can go back to stock just in case.

I searched Katech and didn't see anything. Are they still making them for the LT4?

[Tay]

Originally Posted by ZLRob

This is great info. I'll have to investigate a 174 because I still want to make sure I can go back to stock just in case.

I searched Katech and didn't see anything. Are they still making them for the LT4?

They still have it. You just can't use it with a billet housing: https://katechengines.com/i-30497645...hermostat.html

[gkitab241]

Originally Posted by Joshinator99

Katech is the only tstat to use IMO. Mishimoto, Weapon X, etc are all junk and will overheat your car when they fail. Use the 160 if you are tuning your ECM and use the 174 version if you need to keep the stock tune.

I too am looking for a cooler thermostat. When you say 160 with tune, what are you talking about? For example, I have the Diablo Sport Diablo tune in mine. When you mentioned tuning, did you mean just the fan speeds bringing them lower to make the thermostat difference truly better? Or is there other tuning that needs to be done other than fan speeds for a 160?

Also what is the stock temperature for 2023 SS? I've read mixed reviews on thermostat changing for performance. Some say too cold is not good. Long-term. Trying the figure out the sweet spot.

[CalgaryZL1]

Originally Posted by gkitab241

I too am looking for a cooler thermostat. When you say 160 with tune, what are you talking about? For example, I have the Diablo Sport Diablo tune in mine. When you mentioned tuning, did you mean just the fan speeds bringing them lower to make the thermostat difference truly better? Or is there other tuning that needs to be done other than fan speeds for a 160?

Also what is the stock temperature for 2023 SS? I've read mixed reviews on thermostat changing for performance. Some say too cold is not good. Long-term. Trying the figure out the sweet spot.

Here is the explanation in post 16 from Josh

The factory ECM program expects the car to reach the OEM tstat temp of 194 within 10-15 minutes or so. When that doesn’t happen it assumes something is wrong. Changing the mechanical thermostat temp in the tune fixes that. Changing the fan profile allows you to optimize the engine coolant temps to work in conjunction with the new 160 degree tstat.

The factory thermostat is in the 190° range

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by gkitab241

I too am looking for a cooler thermostat. When you say 160 with tune, what are you talking about? For example, I have the Diablo Sport Diablo tune in mine. When you mentioned tuning, did you mean just the fan speeds bringing them lower to make the thermostat difference truly better? Or is there other tuning that needs to be done other than fan speeds for a 160?

Also what is the stock temperature for 2023 SS? I've read mixed reviews on thermostat changing for performance. Some say too cold is not good. Long-term. Trying the figure out the sweet spot.

Originally Posted by CalgaryZL1

Here is the explanation in post 16 from Josh

The factory ECM program expects the car to reach the OEM tstat temp of 194 within 10-15 minutes or so. When that doesn’t happen it assumes something is wrong. Changing the mechanical thermostat temp in the tune fixes that. Changing the fan profile allows you to optimize the engine coolant temps to work in conjunction with the new 160 degree tstat.

The factory thermostat is in the 190° range

Thanks @CalgaryZL1.

@gkitab241: what are you trying to do with the car? If it’s a daily driver save your money. If you race or track it on occasion but have limited mods, just do the Katech 174 so you don’t need to mess with tuning it. If you’re turning the car into a race car, ditch the OEM tstat housing all together for reasons mentioned previously in this thread and get the billet housing with a 160 degree LS3 tstat.

[CalgaryZL1]

Originally Posted by Joshinator99

Thanks @CalgaryZL1.

@gkitab241: what are you trying to do with the car? If it’s a daily driver save your money. If you race or track it on occasion but have limited mods, just do the Katech 174 so you don’t need to mess with tuning it. If you’re turning the car into a race car, ditch the OEM tstat housing all together for reasons mentioned previously in this thread and get the billet housing with a 160 degree LS3 tstat.

I actually just ordered the Granatelli this morning with 180° thermostat. I don’t have to worry about a tune and the northern Canadian weather is never crazy hot

[travislambert]

I know this thread is a little old, but here's a nice guard solution to protect the thermostat housing in the event of a supercharger belt failure.

https://www.udaddy.com/products/gen-...-housing-guard

[2018ZL1]

Originally Posted by travislambert

I know this thread is a little old, but here's a nice guard solution to protect the thermostat housing in the event of a supercharger belt failure.

https://www.udaddy.com/products/gen-...-housing-guard

Attachment 1153239

If you get one of these make sure you buy the studs for this... Sold separately for some unknown reason! I got burnt on this!

[travislambert]

Originally Posted by 2018ZL1

If you get one of these make sure you buy the studs for this... Sold separately for some unknown reason! I got burnt on this!

Absolutely! Be sure to check your car and order the studs if you need them.

Many of the 6th Gen Camaros come with the studs from the factory. I've owned four 6th Gen Camaros. Three of the four came with the studs in the thermostat housing. I'm not sure why some have them and some don't, but that's the reality of it.

The OEM studs are somewhat expensive for what they are. By offering the studs separately, it helps to keep the base cost lower.

[CalgaryZL1]

Originally Posted by travislambert

I know this thread is a little old, but here's a nice guard solution to protect the thermostat housing in the event of a supercharger belt failure.

https://www.udaddy.com/products/gen-...-housing-guard

Attachment 1153239

I would have preferred this solution over the billet housing. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware or it wasn’t created yet when I purchased my housing.