Thermostat recommendations

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I have been happily running a 190°F thermostat for a while now.  I am about to head out on a road trip in June to Austin (ZCON yeeehaaa), and was thinking I should flush my coolant system to make sure it is tip top.  I have an OEM Nissan 160° thermostat sitting in its box. I am concerned it may not be warm enough for the triple weber manifold. Anybody else run 160 thermostat?

[Mike W]

Zedy,

Really looking forward to seeing you at ZCON. 

I actually do run a 160 thermostat in my Z and the Webers don't seem to mind the lower temp at all.  Having said that, I can't say that I've run them at a higher temp for any significant period of time so perhaps I should try going higher as well. 

Regardless, with the 160 thermostat, the Wizard Cooling radiator, dual 11" Spal fans (which sound like turbines when they turn on), I can sit in 110 degree temps at a stop light in Austin in the summer and never see my temp gauge go past 1/2 way.  Very pleased with this system.

See you in June.

Mike,

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Looking forward to it Mike. I agree, I have never overheated the car.  But was thinking of giving it a try. It is an easy enough switch over. 

 

Hate disposing of coolant though.  I remember the good old days of just dumping it on weeds....

[Chickenman]

Why would you run a 190F thermostat in Houston? All that does is make the engine more detonation prone. As Braap has mentioned in his articles, actual water temps at the rear of the cylinder head run about 20F higher than the temp at thermostat housing. 170F is the " Tropical Zone " thermostat recommended by Nissan and Houston would definitely fall into that range.

On another note, Dyno pulls also show L-series like to run cool. 160F stat seems to give the best HP and Torque. It's all in the ignition timing and detonation control. N42 and N47 heads being more prone to detonation, are best run with no more than a 180F thermostat. 160F - 170F  in hotter climates.  IMHO of course... 

[Chickenman]

Throw a bottle of Redline Water Wetter in as well. The stuff really works. Have been using it for years on my Hillclimb cars ( as have other competitors ).

Even worked in British Double Decker buses that had over heating issues. BDD's  used to puke their coolant all over the ground a a particular stop just after a long steep hill. Redline Water Wetter dropped the temps just enough to prevent after boil. Shop was presently surprised, as they had spent thousands of dollars on upgraded radiators , extra cooling fans etc and the BDD's still had this after boil problem at this one particular stop.

I Drove for Grayline Tours in Vancouver for many years. Loved that job. 

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I always wondered if the redline water wetter is simply insulating the temp probe. I have no reason to doubt the product at all, but I am always leery of products in a bottle that promise things.  I have never read a bad review of the stuff. But the conspiracy theorist in me always wondered..

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Great googly moogly.

Guess what happens when you install a 160°F thermostat.. you run much much cooler.  I use to be on the M on my T E M P guage, and now I am barely to the E.

 

THAT IS 8 whole letters of the alphabet cooler!!! I would say that is a huge improvement.  My car loves the temp.  I am looking forward to seeing how the oil pressure reacts with a cooler running motor.  

 

 

[jalexquijano]

well  i live in Panama in Central America and installed a Stanton 160°F thermostat (wish somebody could sell me an original Nissan OEM 160°F to see if there is any noticeable difference) and when stuck in heavy traffic jam the temperature rises to 3/4 of the gauge. The only way it lowers a Little bit but not to 1/2 is if i open the engine Hood in the middle of the traffic.  

Edited May 11, 2017 by jalexquijano