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YOUR RESEARCHThermostat Replacement??
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Install stock thermostat
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I live in Florida and I installed a stock thermostat when I changed out the water pump.
Leading evidence: 'Install stock thermostat' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'good thing' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Install stock thermostat' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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It is just a matter of how soon the thermostat opens, and for short trips, raising the engine temp in a short time is probably a good thing.
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Suggestion
Warms up to that in probably 4-5 minutes of run time depending on ambient air temps.
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Suggestion
A little cooler running will seem to allow the engine and radiator to last longer, maybe 175 F would be ideal for powertrain longevity and horsepower.
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Suggestion · Original poster
Actually, I just got done reading that the lower (160*) stat indeed resulted in lower oil temps during dyno testing by almost 30*.
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Suggestion
But...but...for someone who uses their car for short trips and not often, I think it would be better to use the stock thermostat in order to raise the temperature on short trips to burn off moisture absorbed by the oil, and condensation in the crankcase.
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But...but...for someone who uses their car for short trips and not often, I think it would be better to use the stock thermostat in order to raise the temperature on short trips to burn off moisture absorbed by the oil, and condensation in the crankcase.
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As I am about to replace (engine nearing 60K) my WP, I question whether or not to install a lower temp stat do to my driving characteristics. All of my daily drives consist of short 10 mile drives to and from (12-15 minutes) work and the occasional run to town (20 min each way) once or twice a month.
My understanding is the lower T-stat will take longer for the car to come up to full temp, thus my thinking is to stick with the stock T-stat.
I'm on an island and will end up in the Pacific ocean if I drive an hour in a straight line!
Am I missing something?
The temp will come up at the same rate. The t stat will open at a lower temp. The idea behind it is some areas of the motor get hotter than other quicker, the lower temp stat will allow uniformed cooling quicker.
Depends on who you ask. Everyone has an opinion on the subject. I personally would think it would be a good idea as the hot spots in the motor are present during the time the tstat is not open. So you would want it open as fast as possible. I see it as cheap insurance.
I'm going in the other direction. Yes, a lower temperature thermostat opens sooner as the coolant temperature rises. But...but...for someone who uses their car for short trips and not often, I think it would be better to use the stock thermostat in order to raise the temperature on short trips to burn off moisture absorbed by the oil, and condensation in the crankcase. Once either the lower temp thermostat or normal temp thermostat open, the flow is the same. It is just a matter of how soon the thermostat opens, and for short trips, raising the engine temp in a short time is probably a good thing.
P.S. I live in Florida and I installed a stock thermostat when I changed out the water pump. I have no problems with heat and the temp stays between the 8 and 0. Warms up to that in probably 4-5 minutes of run time depending on ambient air temps.
Can't disagree with the argument. However i will point out that coolant temp has nothing to do with oil temps. Oil temps take a long time to come up regardless of coolant temps. Fuel and moisture burn off from the oil will take a long drive. longer drive than anyone can do on an island .
The temperature the engine reaches with the lower thermostat should be enough to burn off moisture off the oil. The sooner the thermostat open, the sooner you circulate water eliminating the hot spots.
The way I see it if you decided to drive it a bit more spirited as soon as the engine come up to temp. My understanding is that upon slowing down the coolant may have started to cool and thermostat starts to close but the engine temp behind is still hot and lower temp thermostat slows down on reducing the coolant flow helps?
Just wanted to point out i live very close to you. I agree with the above. But will also add the gauge is not a true representation of your fluid temps. If you have a scanner that can graph live data, i urge you to do so. You will quickly see anything from about 160 to 210 is all in that same spot.
I kind of agree and kind of disagree. As the coolant and engine temperature rise, so does the oil temperature rise. The sooner it does this...for short trips and not long duration drives...the better the oil temperature rises to get rid of moisture. Remember the oil heat exchanger on the top of the engine? Designed to heat the oil for better flow when the engine is cold, and cool the oil when the engine is hot because the oil will get hotter than the coolant. I have no scientific data to go by, but I have mapped on my Durametric that the rise in coolant temperature does warm the oil quicker, then the oil temperature goes up to like 200+ when the engine runs for longer than 10 minutes.
When engine cold thermostat is closed, and coolant circulates inside engine with none to radiators. If an engine has hot or cold spots this is not related to thermo because it's closed and not part of the system at this point.
As engine warms thermo begins to open and water flows to radiator. During normal operation thermo doesn't stay open but modulates to hold system at thermo rated temp.
As radiators reach their capacity to dissipate heat thermo stays full open, and if temp needle represents actual temp then it climbs above normal.
Only difference between regular and low-temp thermo is coolant temp modulated at a different value; lower may increase horsepower and higher decrease emissions, and wear of engine and coolant system components may be increased or decreased that would take a lot of testing to find out.
With my scanner I can watch the engine temp cycle between 180 and 214 without the dash gauge moving much at all,,
Pretty common that dash gauges have "dead bands" from the factory on purpose..
On VW/Audi/BMW, they do it to make them stay steady a the optimum display and it only moves when things go bad,
on a BMW you can program the dead band out and watch the gauge cycle with power output..
Wayne Dempsey's book "101 Projects for your Porsche 911" p.127 says factory thermo begins to open at 187 F and is fully open at 210 F, and LN Engineering low-temp thermo starts to open at 160 F and full open at 180 F. Your operating range matches factory thermo so presumably that's what you have.
I think engine operating temperature will be when the thermo begins to open, so with low-temp thermo engine operates around 160 F and with factory 187 F, which is a huge difference. A little cooler running will seem to allow the engine and radiator to last longer, maybe 175 F would be ideal for powertrain longevity and horsepower.
On Amazon I see thermos for other vehicles at 160 F, 170 F, 180 F, and 195 F, so there is quite a range and it seems being in the middle would be ideal.
Just like with other cars, Porsche engine design engineers had to account for a wide range of ambient air temperatures that the cars will run in, such as maybe like from -20 to 115 F. So I think your comment that "somewhere in the middle" is about the best one can do. I can see where running a low temp thermostat in very high ambient temps might work out okay. But if your running below freezing ambient air temps, the car may never come up to temp.
Back in the day when I was in the Navy and had my MGB, I traveled across country six times with that little car. One day I would be in VA, nice and warm. Then several days later I would be in the mountains and it was freezing and snowing. In order to keep enough heat in my radiator so the car heater would work, I would block off part of the radiator with cardboard...sometimes blocking almost 50% of the air flow. I remember seeing the truckers doing the same thing.
I had a 1978 MGB ,, despite replacing all the parts of the cooling system it never worked particularly consistent..
I too had to cardboard-up in cold weather. Love-hate with that car..
In track cars, with AL heads and blocks,, my across the bpard experience is that 180 is a
nice safe ceiling,, above that at high revs, things get mechanically awkward at times..
A engine set up at 180 peak seems to just hang together better than those runing 205 to 215..
Not scientific here,, just observational...
