Low Temp Thermostat - Fitting

Hi everyone, Just had the car serviced by the guys at Jaz. Third time I have used them and really pleased with their knowledge and service. Anyway 'plug' over. I am going to put a low temp thermostat on the car and wanted to know the following: 1) Where is the best place to purchase one from? 2) Price of unit (roughly) 3) How easy is it to fit? I have read on the Hartech site about the benefits and it seems like a 'no brainer' but would welcome anyone's views if they have had one fitted. Thanks

Richard (thirteeneast) spotted this one, which is about the cheapest, and comes complete with housing and gasket: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PORSCHE-911-996-997-LOW-TEMPERATURE-THERMOSTAT-70C-160F-Gasket-Housing-/271232642317?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f26b9ad0d Fitting isn't particularly difficult, but draining, filling, and bleeding the coolany system is the hardest part, especially if you don't have a vacuum fill tool. I have one I got from Hatrtech in mine (£90 iirc, without the housing). I think it is just for peace of mind, and haven't experienced any adverse affects.

Thanks Richard, Is this one on ebay the same make as yours? or are there other manufacturers of the thermostat? £50 is a great price if it is. How long would it take to fit it? so that I can gauge a rough cost of the job?

Mine is made by MotoRad, who also make the original Porsche thermostat. Wahler are a good company, and if they had been available when I bought mine I would have had no hesitation fitting one. Book time is 1 hour including coolant drain and refill, but excluding bleeding the system. If filled using a vacuum device it shouldn't take much bleeding, but if not you could add another 30-60 minutes.

I have also fitted one recently & am pleased with the results. Just completed an 1100 mile round trip to Le Mans & my car ran very smoothly, & I can see from the gauge that it is running slightly cooler, accepting that the temp gauge is only an indicator & is not wholly accurate. I ordered my thermostat from OPC Sutton Coldfield with some discount. Cost me around £67 in parts with discount, plus as Richard stated about an hours labour my local indie. Part numbers were: 996.106.013.59 RRP £38-96 996.106.125.53 RRP £32-18 996.106.326.50 RRP £4.08 Having read all the Hartech advice decided it was a good preventative measure. Time will tell. Dave

Isn't that the standard thermostat, Dave?

Richard..May be a mistake on my parts invoice then with Part number listed. I did physically compare the old thermostat with new one as it was being fitted & I definitely have the lower temp one one as the temperature was stamped into the metal housing on the part itself, & my car is definitely running cooler. Is it the same lower temperature one that is fitted to the Turbo? Had me worried for a minute!

TBH, I don't know the opening temperature of the 996T thermostat. The part number is 996.106.125.72, and it appears to be the same fitting - at least, it uses the same fitting tool. It would be interesting to know, because if it is ~70°C (same as the Wahler or MotoRad ones) then it would be cheaper to buy from Porsche! (Standard stat is ~80°C). As I said before, I can't see any point in buying the housing, unless it is damaged, because the thermostat just fits in to it with a bayonet action.

I would of thought the turbo runs cooler due to the additional rad at the front?

OEM use various makes, the one in the ebay ad has actually had the 996 part number ground off as they are genuine supply. RPM also have them silly cheap too and again its the Wahler unit. Just get it, fit it. For that money its a no brainer [ ]

I don't know either but I definitely think they are cooler like you say, and just a couple of degrees makes all the difference. If it helps I think mine was stamped 83' on the old one and 71' on the replacement. But then my memory is awful, What were we talking about?.

Thanks Richard! Gonna go for it. No Brainer!

This write up might help a bit, But what did this guy think he was doing using that much liquid gasket EEK! http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=83808&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Hi Richard, Just read the write up. I think this is one for Jaz though!. Thanks for the link

Your welcome, Credit to the OP.

Mine arrived today from the Ebay seller - exactly as discussed, couple of photo's showing where Porsche part number has been removed and 71 degree opening temperature.

I am sorry but I simply do not understand the fad of fitting low temperature thermostats. It was Henley Regatta this weekend and as a consequence the two minute drive into Marlow took half an hour. In the hot weather on Sat the temp gauge on my Turbo never went more than a needle's width above 80deg C. I am perfectly happy with it taking until just past the Bisham round about to warm up because of the engine size. Compared to my other Porsches and the little Citroen the extra time is about 20 seconds. surely opening the stat at 70 slows down the warm up time, or is there a time bomb that I don't know about?

Also if you keep your temp lower your engine may not run as efficient and may use more fuel.

Yes and it could also make emissions higher, but what I took home from Porsches 996 attempt is that was their first go at a water cooled 911. What with engine failure and inconsistent inaccurate gauges they got it a bit wrong, and thanks to independents those wrongs have the potential to be put right. Don't trust what your gauge is telling you, As Richard said before have a look at the ECU info on a Durametric to see the real temp its probably a lot hotter than you think.

John, the Low Temp Thermostat was one of Barry Hart's ideas. My interpretation: Bore scoring has been found on several 9x6 and 9x7 (non-Mezger) engines, particularly on 3.6's and 987 3.4's. The scoring almost always presents on the #5 and #6 cylinders, which are the last on the cooling water path. Barry argues that on the affected engines the water jacket around the Locasil liner is very small, and that high torque loads give a high piston-liner loading which can cause local boiling of the cooling water during warm up. The LTT opens earlier, hence gets circulation going earlier. Of course, careful warming of the car should be second nature, but every little helps.

Some additional experiences from today...... http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=778406

Ah so us metzger engine types can breath easy.

Ahem! Mezger, please! [ ] And yes, breathe easy!

Damn I thought I edited the "T" out.

hi, I fitted a new low temp whaler thermostat that I bought from e-bay for £50 a couple of weeks ago. I fitted it with the car on my grass lawn only having raised the n/s/r wheel on a caravan leveller block. it was a easy fit with the only problem being getting the system re-filled with the same quantity of anti-freeze as I had removed. I eventually left the car overnight after refilling to discover that that the expansion tank was empty in the morning allowing me to re-fill with the balance of anti-freeze. hope this helps. regards ray. ps you will kill the grass if you spill any anti-freeze on it as I found out!!!