[OptionalStang]

i have a 180 degree thermostat and a dyno tune with a ram for my intake for coldair and a shortram intake, ported typhoon manifold, exhaust with no cat and those should be the only mods that would effect the temp id think..any ways..one pic is of it at typical highway speeds with the heater on medium at 65mph and 40 degree weather, the other is city driving after like 20 miles with no heater on and a few hard revs after i stopped to take the pic..am i running to cold? and if so what issues could this cause..

[MustGT98allday]

i wouldnt trust the gauge. our cars (4.6's) normal operating temp is 220 which is when the fan kicks on. the only way to tell would be to hook it up to a scan tool and watch the temp on that. i never trust a gauge

[sharkbait]

My gauge used to sit at the start of the normal range.

your fine

if the gauge registers your like 160-170

[OptionalStang]

my guage in teh car is pretty accuate..i can change around mods and get diff readings..this is just the coolest its ran and i didnt want to stay in what is it called?? start up mode???

[1989Gt.]

Put a thermoscope on it

[3valveStallion]

no such thing as too cold. heat robs power and efficiency, if theres combustion, its hot enough. ive never heard of an engine adversely affected by running too cold

[1989Gt.]

Originally Posted by 3valveStallion no such thing as too cold. heat robs power and efficiency, if theres combustion, its hot enough. ive never heard of an engine adversely affected by running too cold

in a sense but a under cooled engine will wear out the cylinders + rings faster then a properly warmed block....

[sharkbait]

If the gauge registers something your already out of the "cold start" mode

[BLUE91GT]

You have to remember too that our cars are set for the fans to come at 220 If I remember correctly. If you change the thermo to a 180 you need to adjust the turn on points of the fans to match. I have run stock and 180 and the car seemed to run better at 195 and my heater did a better job on the few shitty days we have here in nor cal each year. Just my

[Tang Stang]

If you're concerned about it, install a real gauge. Or use a scan tool, handheld tuner, etc.

[OptionalStang]

thanks guys....

[96-GT_Josh]

I wouldn't trust any of the stock gauges at all. My engine temp would say I was almost overheating 90% of the time so I got an aftermarket gauge. Car warms up to 190 for a while then goes to 220 then fans kick on then goes back to 190.

With both gauges in the car I noticed the stock one has a range from about 145ish at the C line to 220 at 3/4 (at least in my car) and with that close of a range the needle will move a lot with the fan/thermo cycle. As compared to my aftermarket gauge with a 200* range the needle only moves 1/4".

[1996 GT]

My car runs like that on the highway constantly, then kicks right up slightly past the middle in the city or if im getting on the pedal. I wouldn't be to concerned, or at least im not.

[96-GT_Josh]

Ok just went for a drive. My gauge reads close to c when the aftermarket one read 192. Garbage stocky.

[Jhoward93]

I have an aftermarket gauge an mine runs 180.

[p4ndiamond]

Yeah i found my car to run better and harder at stock temp set. i saw no reason to go lower in thermostats like before. it generally runs fine.

[EcoFriendly_lol]

Originally Posted by p4ndiamond Yeah i found my car to run better and harder at stock temp set. i saw no reason to go lower in thermostats like before. it generally runs fine.

You can go with a lower thermostat, but I'd say no lower than 180 degrees. The benefits of doing so, in addition to colder spark plugs, is to be able to run more ignition timing for any given grade of fuel you use. However, if you never turn down the fan temps, you won't be able to make full use of that mod.

I'm running a 180 degree t-stat and NGK TR6 spark plugs in my T-bird right now. The car is getting a tune later this month to make use of these changes...in addition to the PI intake manifold and to change the shift points for the 3.73's. My temperature gauge is doing the same things as OP's.

[1996 GT]

^ Why would you run a TR6 on a mostly stock engine? You're running copper plugs and a 6 is slightly to cold. IMO you should be running a TR55GP or at least a TR55 in a virtually stock engine.

[EcoFriendly_lol]

Why not? lol TR55 is the stock heat range. TR6 is one heat range cooler. The car is going for a tune here shortly after I install the PI intake manifold and have 3.73's installed. I've been having some pinging on regular fuel. I was told by my mechanic friend last week to run TR6's and a 180 degree thermostat. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to mod motors. All the vacuum hoses have been replaced, all O2's have been replaced.

[1996 GT]

You're missing the point. You car is tuned to run 87 octane, do you know the differences between fuel grade? Running TR6's is pointless right now being N/A and virtually stock. Your thermostat wont make a difference on engine ping. Are you sure your not just hearing an exhaust leak and thinking its a ping? It's common. The only thing you will benefit from a tune if you're still staying on 87 octane is your shift points, as towards actual power increases there will not be a huge jump. That manifold will probably bring you up 10-15 horse. Even with a full pi engine you still should be running TR55GP's. Your compression isnt high enough, and you dont go colder unless your F/I and even then you should be gaping a colder copper plug with a 0.034.