Motorad 160 thermostat #523160

[L99MARO]

Has anybody used this thermostat on their Camaro? It's a 160, any opinions would be appreciated, thanks.

[11-Camaro]

Had a very long conversation with my tuner this past weekend. There was an individual that just put an additional bolt on air intake and wanted a re-tune. After the session the car fans kicked in high and the engine almost over-heated. Turns out the individual added an aftermarket thermostat. The tuner used a lot of technical terms but basically said to not mess with the factory GM Thermostat and added aftermarket ones always fail. He will not actually even install them. I am not an expert in this arena but I do defer to the tuner (this was from MS Tunning). They have been around a long time and have quite a National following.

[gm2376]

Originally Posted by 11-Camaro

Had a very long conversation with my tuner this past weekend. There was an individual that just put an additional bolt on air intake and wanted a re-tune. After the session the car fans kicked in high and the engine almost over-heated. Turns out the individual added an aftermarket thermostat. The tuner used a lot of technical terms but basically said to not mess with the factory GM Thermostat and added aftermarket ones always fail. He will not actually even install them. I am not an expert in this arena but I do defer to the tuner (this was from MS Tunning). They have been around a long time and have quite a National following.

i would find a new tuner

[InFiD3ViL]

Originally Posted by gm2376

i would find a new tuner

Agreed.

I've been running a Granatelli 160º thermostat for nearly 3 years now. As long as the fans are tuned to activate properly for the new thermostat then it will be fine.

You figure anyone that tunes cars professionally has either installed or tuned for his fair share of lower temp thermostats, so this is really weird to hear.

[L99MARO]

Originally Posted by 11-Camaro

Had a very long conversation with my tuner this past weekend. There was an individual that just put an additional bolt on air intake and wanted a re-tune. After the session the car fans kicked in high and the engine almost over-heated. Turns out the individual added an aftermarket thermostat. The tuner used a lot of technical terms but basically said to not mess with the factory GM Thermostat and added aftermarket ones always fail. He will not actually even install them. I am not an expert in this arena but I do defer to the tuner (this was from MS Tunning). They have been around a long time and have quite a National following.

The only time a thermostat should make a car over heat is if it's not opening.

[11-Camaro]

Originally Posted by gm2376

i would find a new tuner

Snake oil, oil viscosity, thermostats, etc... Lots of passion on what is best. Countless sites and posts arguing thermostat ranges just like oil viscosity. Honestly - I have no passion on any of it other than an example of a realtime event on an aftermarket Mishimoto thermostat (basically it failed and was new).

[xstuntman]

11Camaro, Your tuner has obviously read a few books on the subject.

It could cause a low engine oil temp which will begin an acidic reaction in the motor. Yeah that's bad, especially for bearings. It could also cause the computer to increase fuel since it reads a low operating temp. The factory setting is what i use since longevity is my goal and just dropping in a lower temp thermostat does nothing but change the amount of time the water passes thru the radiator and in theory it could cause the opposite reaction your looking for.

Edit: forgot to add that a 4 degree change is considered a big move in a new car.

[gm2376]

Originally Posted by xstuntman

11Camaro, Your tuner has obviously read a few books on the subject.

It could cause a low engine oil temp which will begin an acidic reaction in the motor. Yeah that's bad, especially for bearings. It could also cause the computer to increase fuel since it reads a low operating temp. The factory setting is what i use since longevity is my goal and just dropping in a lower temp thermostat does nothing but change the amount of time the water passes thru the radiator and in theory it could cause the opposite reaction your looking for.

Edit: forgot to add that a 4 degree change is considered a big move in a new car.

of course you have to have it tuned....and if the tuner knows what they are doing, they make the adjustments.

[11-Camaro]

Originally Posted by xstuntman

11Camaro, Your tuner has obviously read a few books on the subject.

It could cause a low engine oil temp which will begin an acidic reaction in the motor. Yeah that's bad, especially for bearings. It could also cause the computer to increase fuel since it reads a low operating temp. The factory setting is what i use since longevity is my goal and just dropping in a lower temp thermostat does nothing but change the amount of time the water passes thru the radiator and in theory it could cause the opposite reaction your looking for.

Edit: forgot to add that a 4 degree change is considered a big move in a new car.

Tuner said a lot that was honestly over my head on the potential for damage and even if tuned the aftermarket thermostats carry a much higher failure rate than a factory one. He threw out several thermostat vendors that have failed in addition to the temperature damage risks they will cause. Despite the previous derogatory remark - he is relied upon in track and drag strips around the country.


On the plus side I pulled 814 with 12.4 psi of boost on the Hub Dyno - ;-)
https://fb.watch/ZYpG-019d/

I can go much higher but wanted to keep boost in a range the factory bottom end can handle long-term.

[hudson773]

from a mechanic's standpoint AND COMMON sense, in theory a cooler eng can make more HP, but how much? it is really unmeasurable, if it was a graph from SOMEONE out there showing it to have some REAL effect I would consider it, but there ISN"T. I don't consider 1/1000 of a second a gain (if it is even that much) worth anything unless you are a pro racer. the possibly hurting the motor outweighs that almost unmeasurable gain. if you road race, 190, 160 or no thermostat, the engine will run above 190. in a 1/4 mile there will be no effect as the engine will get hot AFTER the race is over.

[gm2376]

[QUOTE=11-Camaro;10881373]Tuner said a lot that was honestly over my head on the potential for damage and even if tuned the aftermarket thermostats carry a much higher failure rate than a factory one. He threw out several thermostat vendors that have failed in addition to the temperature damage risks they will cause. Despite the previous derogatory remark - he is relied upon in track and drag strips around the country.


On the plus side I pulled 814 with 12.4 psi of boost on the Hub Dyno - ;-)
https://fb.watch/ZYpG-019d/

I can go much higher but wanted to keep boost in a range the factory bottom end can handle long-term.[/QUOTE


there was nothing derogatory....he just doesn't make sense...where are the so called failure rate stats? Ask Rick Crawford, Phil Hoefler and Katech what they say? Every part with have a chance of failure...but if you buy a quality part...say Katech, Lingenfelter...you will be fine. You are swapping out engine internals and then saying the t stat will be the cause of catastrophic failure?

[CamaroCracka]

I would guess GM does not even make thermostats, but source them from a major manufacturer like Motorad. Pretty sure Melling makes the POS LS3 oil pump, but everybody puts 10295 or 10296 Melling pumps in when they do cam swaps.

A lot of guys who race 1/4 mile like the lower stats so the engine does not heat up so much between runs. Merc actually jumpers the fan relay to keep the fan going when he is not running, and I was going to do the same, but my 160 stat, ethyl glycol cooled car just does not get very hot between runs.

[LCPLPunk]

Actually...the L99 oil pump is pretty damn stout..only reason I would replace/upgrade mine when I do a cam swap is because I'll likely be at 100k miles...

[ariZona28]

Originally Posted by CamaroCracka

Merc actually jumpers the fan relay to keep the fan going when he is not running, and I was going to do the same

Don't want to hijack the thread but what is the proper procedure to jump the fan relay to keep the fans running? It would be nice to keep my Z's fans running a bit longer after heavy therapy sessions.