So i figgured out why my truck never wanted to warm up .... the PO had a 160* thermostat in it.

I'm left wondering why, but not surpised. the last truck i had this problem with turned out to have NO thermostat in it .... and for no apparent reason. that truck runs WARM but not HOT by any means ( that one runs 210-220 down the road, but never more than 230 no matter what) .... so why they took it out is un explained ....

anyway ... the real question is, what kind of long term damage, if any, would the 160* t-stat cause?

i have noticed that when i haul heavy with it, the temp comes up toward the middle of the normal range, and when it gets warm like that the oil pressure goes to the bottom of the normal range.

when you slow down a bit, the temp comes down and the oil pressure goes up, so i'm wondering if the 160* t-stat had anything to do with it ....

gawd people do wierd things for no apparent reason ....

 

HOTRODSRJ’s COOLING TIPS Operating temperature vs power and longevity!

 

I always switch to a 160* in the summer but in the fall & spring I run a 180*. Running one without a thermostat is always a bad Idea. The engine needs restriction in the outlet to maintain a steady temp. If you don't want to run one, they make what looks like a big flat washer to restrict the flow to go in where the thermostat was. Heat and oil psi are directly ralated. The hotter the oil the more it breaks down. The hotter the engine the more the engine loosens up with heat expansion, so oil psi will go down with excessive heat.
Long term damage, probably nothing, but oil does need temp. to flow good amoung other things.

 

thanks for the info!

I'm havn't driven it yet to see what it does, but i'll get to haul a pickup on my car trailer here in the next week or so so i'll see how it goes down the road with the hotter t-stat. my guess is it will not make a difference, as it was always running above 160* so the t-stat was just always open and the radiator was shedding as much heat as it could all the time anyway, so i think it is just going to run what it runs temp wise, only difference beign that it will be at least 195* now.

if the oil pressure drops when hauling, i might switch it to 20w50 instead of the 10w-30 i have been using

 

The cooler stat will slightly increase bore wear. Also, cooler temps reduce the evaporation of moisture from the oil. Stock was probably 190-195. 180 is considered a good compromise. 160 too low.

Suggest you put a 180 in it and run heavier oil to help with the OP. 15W40 or 20W50 shouldn't hurt it a bit in the spring/summer/fall.

 

180 is too cold to rapidly evaporate the moisture in the engine.

This is why the factory installed themostats in the 190s. (190, 192, 195) for our Ford truck engines.

The thermostat controls the minimum operating temp only, not the max temp.

160 wears your engine nearly twice as fast as a 190