I just got the 73 F100 home last night.The boy I bought it from had purchased a thermostat and threw it in the glovebox so I thought what the heck ? I'll put it in before dark this after noon.I had about 30 mins to work on it.So I grab a wrench ( The first touch of a wrench to my new baby ) and go for the most difficult thermostat bolt to reach. ( 302 engine ) and BAM the head breaks off the bolt.............so there I sit on the fender with a 1/2" wrench in one hand a the head of the bolt in the other.Now I am not new to wrenchin on stuff.It's kinda of a hobby for me.I have been working on motorcycles for around 20 years now but I haven't had a bolt break but maybe one or two times throughout the years.Everything is rusty in the area of course so I am thinking the other one might break too but I must push on.So I spray the other with WD40 knowing that not much of it will penetrate.I give it a few minutes and go for the 2nd bolt.It breaks loose with no problem.I pull the housing and the thermostat and get a look at the broken bolt.Not pretty.I spray it with the WD40 and go get the visegrips.I give it a few minutes,its dark now so I find a flashlight and give it a shot.I clamp down on the bolt and give it a try.Much to my suprise it breaks free.I am thinkin I must be livin right or something.I clean up and call it a night.Its too dark to see.I will remove the 37 year old gasket from the intake tomorrow and put in the new thermostat.I realize this is a very small project, I just found it amusing the my first wrench on the truck broke a bolt.All this BS leads me to my question.I removed a 190 thermostat from the truck and I have a replacement thermostat 160 degree.Which is correct ? The truck is a 1973 F100 302.I thought the thermostat was the original.
I will keep you up to date on the other fun filled events.This weekend I plan on replacing the front brake pads too !

 

the 160 is for summer use.

 

I'm surprise the parts store didn't ask what degree you wanted prior to selling you the 160. I recommend 190 due to past useage and as mention winter is up & coming for most parts of the U.S.
Change it tomorrow morining prior to installing.
The blessing is you did have to use a tap out to drill the old broke bolt stud.

 

He said the PO bought it and threw it in the glovebox...

i don't really know a difference but when it's summer we sometimes take it out...i believe the thermo temps have to do with the heater.

 

I used a 180 stat. I asked for a 190 then found out it wasn't after I got home. I'll put a section of cardboard on the rad if it runs cool this winter and replace it next spring.

I wouldn't run a 160 though, not even in the summer time.

 

I used to run a 190 in the winter and a 160 in the summer in my '77 LTD with a 460. I never should have sold that car...

 

OEM call for a 195 degrees for the 460, I run 192 year round with no problems. It gets O degrees in winter to 110 in the summer in this area. I don't know what the OEM call for in the 302 ,but I run 192,no problems in my other truck.

 

Go with the 190 year round.

 

Yet the engine still runs at about 195*

Never put anything less than a 180*F in a ford engine

The T-stat is just a valve that opens at a certain temp.

 

IIRC my '77 LTD with a 460 ran cooler with the 160 T-stat. I had an aftermarket temp gauge installed in the car under the dash.

 

A cooler running engine is inefficent and causes more internal wear

If the engine was supposed to run with less than a 180*F, Ford would have designed it to efficiently run cooler

 

The LTD didn't run at 160 degrees with the 160 degree t-stat. It did run under 220 degrees with the A/C on, which was an improvement.

 

Most engines with a 195*F Tstat run between 205-210*

The detrimental part is the ratio of coolant to water

50-50 in California

80-20 in Northern Sates


Both places require the 195* T-stat

 

In 30 years I've ran nothing but 160* in the hot summers. 180's and 195's can get out of control on 90* days. Any of my engines I have ever torn into are clean as a whistle inside too. I know a lot of people have argued with me over this but the test of time always prevails. There is nothing wrong with running 160* in the summer.

 

I put in the 160 yesterday basically because I had it.I installed a new temperature sending unit.This was all due to my temperature gauge showing hot but I suspected it was not running hot.I drove the truck around some yesterday and today.It didn't raise the gauge above the midway zone on the OE gauge except when it pegged the hand for a few seconds yesterday but it dropped back down quickly.Seemed kinda strange.Truck runs good so far.