Beck Arnley 170F Thermostat is it faulty ?

[alcyon]

I live in the tropics and temps in the morning are about 26C (79F) and at worst in the afternoon it an reach 36C (97F)
My OE thermostat is 82C(180F). I just swapped that out for a beck arnley 77C (170F) stat . Thats only a 5C difference. I was driving in the afternoon and evening over the weekend and the temp bar is one notch below middle most of the time, except when I am stuck in traffic for long it goes to the middle and stays there. OE 180F the temp is in the middle and stays there.
Well today, I drove the car in the early morning so ambient temps are 26C, and i noticed the temp bar is two notch below middle, which is abnormal to me. Its as if the thermostat already opened earlier than its 170F rating. Is B/A stat reliable? Its either the stat is opening at lower temp or the jiggle valve is bypassing too much. I was thinking of trying motorad 180F high flow stat. Is motorad stuff reliable ?

More Information for MOTORAD 2014180

Whats the difference between high flow stat and normal one ?

 

[Dinoburner]

Had a similar problem and so bought a digital thermometer then tested both new and OE tstats in a pan of water on the kitchen range and found each opened at different rates. The new opened slightly sooner and closed slightly later. ended up buying a Robert Shaw balanced flow which allows more constant temp readings on the dash guage.

 

[Warstud]

Whatever you do.....dont buy a Motorad. You should have gotten an OEM

 

[DemoFly]

Thermostats are things that should always be bought as high quality as possible. So, dealer part usually. Always test them in a pan of water before installing.

I think all of my thermostats are OE Stant. The only thermostat I've ever had fail was a Motorad. It failed open.

 

[Chris142]

Whatever you do.....dont buy a Motorad.

This. Motorad is garbage

 

[JMJNet]

I have come to the conclusion that for Thermostat, always get an OE.
The aftermarket are always problematic and it is not always cheaper than OE anyway.

 

[DemoFly]

I have come to the conclusion that for Thermostat, always get an OE.
The aftermarket are always problematic and it is not always cheaper than OE anyway.

It's just such an important part that needs to function correctly to be worth trying to save a few bucks.

 

[mk378]

Overcooling an engine isn't good.

In traffic the fan controls determine how hot the engine will get, not the thermostat.

 

[Kira]

Yo, OP: Which vehicle are you speaking of? ....the one in your avatar?

Pretty sure "OE thermostat ONLY" is the first thing car people learn.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

It's probably too early to know if there is a problem since you just changed the thermostat. The information you have so far is that the temperature gauge runs lower with the cooler thermostat.

I would guess that the lower reading means temperature is maintained right at the 170 rating when air temperature is cooler. It sounds like hotter conditions and higher loads make it run a little warmer, but usually not quite as warm as OEM. Without a gauge that reads exact temperatures, the best you can do is see if the new 'stat acts consistently.

 

[zzyzzx]

OE or Superstant.

 

[GMBoy]

I've recently been skeptical of BA products having 2 fuel pressure regulators go bad back to back and a bad MAF sensor. I now steer clear of them when offered a choice in parts brands.

 

[nthach]

Whatever you do.....dont buy a Motorad. You should have gotten an OEM

I believe Beck’s thermostats are Motorad.

 

[alcyon]

I was reading through some BA stat reviews on amazon and found some common complaints not about the stat itself, but the rubber seal.So today i removed the BA stat and re compared the toyota seal vs the BA seal. The BA seal was quite loose and on both the OE and BA stat, and the OE seal clamped both stats very well. So I removed the BA seal and swapped the Toyota Seal on the BA stat. I will test the car tomorrow and lets see how it goes. Maybe the stat itself is fine its just slipping the coolant past the seal causing overcooling.
The number one reason i wanted the BA stat is because it has the 170F option.

 

[alcyon]

This morning drove the car, the temp bar was at one bar below the pic, and it went to 4 bar as the pic, and back to 3rd bar again, which is abnormal. There is something not right about this stat. If it goes to 4 bars, it should never go back to 3rd. Fluctuating between 5th bar (middle) to 4th (like in pic) is ok, but never to 3rd. Changing back to OE tomorrow.