Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
No "car manufacturers" in the world use the 160F thermostat, it is an after market product. Marine usage is different for a reason and some of the answer is below.
Not at present, but 160F stats are not "aftermarket." They were original equipment on millions of cars through the years, and are therefore the correct replacement part for such vehicles. Among the vehicles I currently own, one requires a 160F thermostat, 2 recommend a 180F stat and allow a 160 stat for "severe usage," 1 requires a 195F stat, and one requires a 210F stat.
Today in 2010, OEM stats run the gamut from 180F on up. Even one manufacturer may use different setpoints in different engines.
So tell me... why don't they all just use 180F, or 200F stats if the stat doesn't "control" the temperature as you erroneously claim? The answer is, of course, that they want te engine temperature to stay within a particular range for a combination of reasons, and they use a specific thermostat to CONTROL that temperature range.
Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
It WON'T run fine. If you try to run any modern vehicle without a thermostat (and its actually moving enough to generate ram-air flow through the radiator so that the electric fan won't take over and control things completely), the computer will never go into closed-loop operation and you'll eventually get an error code and fail emissions testing. Not to mention suffer excessive fuel dilution in the oil and excessive cylinder wall wear from sub-optimal ring and cylinder wall temperatures.
Failing emission does not mean that the engine is not running fine.
Oh for the love of...
Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
There are thousands of products out there that let you bypass the emission system to get better mileage and performance. One of those products is a cooler thermostat. You have been brainwashed by the EPA. Emission control is one of the reason why there is a thermostat in your car.
Failing to switch to closed-loop mode does *not* constitute "running fine." Failing emissions and setting an OBD-II error code does not constitute "running fine." Diluting the oil with excessive fuel does not constitue "running fine." Wearing the cylinder walls excessively because the rings and cylinder walls are too cool is not "fine." Bypassing emissions systems DOES NOT improve efficiency. You are living in 1978 if you actually believe that. When people put a cooler thermostat in a post-OBDII vehicle, they have to be *very* careful about how much lower than stock they go, or they have to also re-program the fuel map and other parameters. Yes, running the thermostat cooler *can* allow higher power output by allowing a more aggressive spark timing map, but it does so at the cost of efficiency and (in some cases) longevity.
But I'm glad to see that you finally acknowledge that installing a cooler thermostat will, in fact, cause an engine to run cooler as I have been saying in every post. After all, it does regulate the engine temperature. Thank you. I'm done.