After 160 degree thermostat?

[Greenpea]

Quick question about after you install a 160 degree thermostat. What would you have to adjust in your tune for the change in thermostats? Thanks for the help.

[5_Liter_Eater]

Just the fan enable/disable temps.

[WS6FirebirdTA00]

i have mine set at 183/179 187/184 and that keeps my coolant temps at about 180ish in stop and go traffic

[jimmyblue]

The main point in going to a lower 'stat is to get the
ability to run more timing, leaner mixture, or both.
Or, just run the settings you've got without ping.

I run my fans even lower. I want the 'stat to have
authority, not the fans. I don't mind the low speed
fan running full time on the street. I plan to switch
to thermostatic fan control eventually and control
for a 160F tank temp, rather than a 180F block
temp. But that wasn't the question.

Once you have a stable, low-swing coolant temp
range then you would start in on the performance
tuning and find the limits, given consistent engine
temp environment. And bearing in mind that a low
temp 'stat still isn't going to do anything, on a 95F
day with the A/C on....

[Greenpea]

Have noticed that it helps keep the trans temp down a little bit on hot days as well. My truck does not have e-fans, so was more interested in changes that might be needed to timing. But you hit on it for me, will try and log some time with more timing and see what that does. Thanks for your input, hope this helps others as well. More info the better we are.

[chrisj6]

You will be able to run a tad more timing, i wouldnt go more than a couple degrees, but you will also be able to pull a tad bit of fuel. Main thing like said before, you will just have less chance of detonation.

Chris

[SRPerformance]

I dont like to rock the boat, so sorry guys

You want your engine to run hot (200 - 212) and have the inlet air temperature (IAT) as cool as possible for max power.

Cold thermostat were often used to get the engine to run richer

[WS6FirebirdTA00]

i dont know about that, it wont be as eff. when its cooler but the airmass is also cooler which makes more power. at least thats how it worked out in models we studied in thermo 2

[SRPerformance]

More info

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=426092

[WS6FirebirdTA00]

i know a lot of people that have dynoed at differnt ect levels and the 180 mark seemed to be best. what makes power in nascar is possible that it wont work for us, totally different beasts. the colder the air, the less effiecent it is for a set timing value, colder temps you can run more timing, making more power and a full burn. now if you leave the same settings for fueling and timing then more heat will make more power. it also depends on temps at the cyl of the coolant, which is hard to measure really.

[WS6FirebirdTA00]

plus a hot motor heats up the incomming air a fair amount, so that hurts the inlet temps

[SRPerformance]

If you use a 'over the radiator cold air intake' and the car is actualy moving the IAT comes down to almost the ambient temperature.

So, dialing in the engine coolant temperature (ECT) is what is important and a too cold thermostat will leave the cylinders to cold and not produce the best HP.

Originaly, I was trying to determine what is the best ECT for a LS1 as at the drags the engine sits in the 200-212 range.

[WS6FirebirdTA00]

i guess it also would depend on the set up too. as far as intake temp, yes intake temps my be cold, but with high ect the temp right before it enters the chamber will be hotter. that is the point i am trying to make. yes the air moves fast but it heats up fast as well. same reason noone uses a cast intake, they heat the air up way too much.

[Greenpea]

Let me throw a wrench into the mix. If you have a high stall converter, then there will be more heat generated, as the converter allows the rpms to come up. But once in lock up, this does not become a factor. So if you are worried about the temps not getting hot enough for max power, the small difference betwen the two is minimal. Most cases the engine temp rides around 170 - 180 degrees when fully warmed up. Think that it produces the power I am looking for at that temp. Just wanted to make sure that I was not overlooking something, as the truck use to carry 200 degrees before the stat change. The heater will still run you out of the cab, so I don't think heat in the engine is an issue here.

[wadesns]

I am not sure about the thermal aspects of it but if you look at the ect spark adder table anything under 185 at or around idle takes timing away and anything above 221 above idle also takes timing away so if you are planning on running a colder thermostat or even plan on running hotter shouldnt this table be edited so that it doesn't have a negative affect. if not this could be the reason for better power at higher temps in our engines.

Does anyone have a hypertech tune that could look and see if they edited this table for the colder thermostat?