thermostat for 02 ford explorer

[fordexplorer]

I just wanted to know what everybody thought about the pros and cons of using a 180 degree thermostat instead of the original 195. I have heard that the 180 will give you better performance and gas mileage, but will my heater be warm enough. I live in Mississippi and we usually have pretty mild winters.

 

[Gary Allan]

No gain to it. You'll get better gas mileage with the 195 thermostat. You won't be able to tell the difference by the heater temp ..but you really aren't doing yourself or your engine any good by doing this. The only time I can see this being of any benefit is if you had some hi-per setup that, when pressed, overtaxed the cooling system. The lower stat would then give you a larger/longer window of operation before you had to give it a break. It won't alter any capacity in continuous duty.