T-stat ?

[URLACHER54]

is any one using a 180 degree t-stat. i was told by ford not to use this one that it will interfer with the coumputer, to stay with the stock t-stat.

 

[Shoaz]

Lot of people use the 180F t-stats, but 192F is the stock value. Since you're up north I doubt there'd be much advantage to using a 180F t-stat, but it won't really hurt anything if that's all you can find.

IMHO it's more important to find one with a jiggle valve than to get the temp exact. If you can find a 192F (or thereabouts) with a jiggle valve, that's the best. 52mm diameter.

 

[SHOBlu]

I found the Stant Superstat number 65869 is the same as stock except it has only one jiggle valve. I installed it on mine last week and it is working just fine.

I got a heads up for it from SHOtimes.com. That and a lot of other good information on that site.

You want to run a thermostat thats going to keep the coolant temp within factory spec. The ECU depends on coolant temp as a major factor in determining fuel trim and spark curve. Too cool a temp and the system will run rich. Keep the temp at where it is designed to run and the radiator fan's and their thermoswitch will do their job in keeping the coolant from getting too hot.

Cooler is not always better.

Good luck.

 

[SHOZ123]

The t-stat is only for minimum temperature. It is the job of the fans and radiator to control maximum temperature. If you put in a cooler that stock t-stat to be effective when ambient temps are above 60f or so you need to also lower the fan turn on temperature.

This can be done with tuning or with a manual override add on thermostatic switch. Usually the temp for open/closed loop is much below the t-stats rating. On the Gen 3 it's 140F or something like that. Don't know about the V6s.

 

[Axianator]

I got a heads up for it from SHOtimes.com. That and a lot of other good information on that site.

You want to run a thermostat thats going to keep the coolant temp within factory spec. The ECU depends on coolant temp as a major factor in determining fuel trim and spark curve. Too cool a temp and the system will run rich. Keep the temp at where it is designed to run and the radiator fan's and their thermoswitch will do their job in keeping the coolant from getting too hot.

While the SHOtimes website may contain a great deal of good information, it also contains a great deal of generalized mis-information like the snippet that you posted above. While it's always a good idea to help maintain the proper engine coolant temperature with a properly-rated thermostat, you also have to remember that the thermostat is only one variable in the overall cooling system equation. Paul was correct when he said that the thermostat's primary job was that of regulating the minimum engine coolant temperature. Once the coolant temperature has exceed the thermostat's preset opening temperature, it then opens to divert the heat-soaked engine coolant to the proper components (or the radiator and cooling fans) to allow them to do their own job of cooling the engine coolant.

That said, I can promise you that running a 180F thermostat or even an open cooling system (e.g. no thermostat at all) in your '89-'95 V6 SHO will not cause your engine to run any richer than if it were fitted with a factory-rated 192F thermostat. I might also note that while I mainly do so as a result of my local climate, I have been running a 180F thermostat for over a year now with zero problems.

 

[jays350]

thermostat

I have a 93 sho. yamaho motor. do all sho's have thermostats

 

[URLACHER54]

as far as i know yes they do. just follow your upper radiator hose to the end and inside the housing which has two bolts, remove them and the t-stat should be inside there.

 

[SHOck]

That said, I can promise you that running a 180F thermostat or even an open cooling system (e.g. no thermostat at all) in your '89-'95 V6 SHO will not cause your engine to run any richer than if it were fitted with a factory-rated 192F thermostat. I might also note that while I mainly do so as a result of my local climate, I have been running a 180F thermostat for over a year now with zero problems.

If this guy's SHO has, say, a two-core radiator, and he lives in the north, he could easily run into trouble getting the engine warm enough to exit cold-start mode if he were to run an open coolant system. I would not declare an open system problem-free for all.

Outside of specific racing considerations, there is no reason to not use the stock thermostat. Running a 180 stat and appropriately modified cooling fan setting will not hurt anything, but it's an extra expense that is rarely useful. Less saturation at the strip. Slightly better oil pressure on the track. Some extra leeway for the blown motors to avoid detonation.

I've used Stant units on other cars (they are good stats), but on the SHO I skip them because of two issues. First, the stant units do not flow as well as the motorcraft units for the SHO. Second, the bypass blocking plate is not the correct size, and allows the bypass to remain somewhat open.

 

[sdpatt]

All SHO engines have thermostats. The OEM 'stat in the '89 and '91 SHOs that I have owned were the 82C (179.6F) version. The OEM 'stat in the 3.2L engines was the 88C (190.4F) labeled hardware. My understanding was that the emissions controls were added to the 3.2L engines to comply with the tighter regulations that were in effect at the time that the ATX SHO was released in the 1993 model year. The 3.0L SHO engine was designed in the mid to late 1980s and released in late 1988 with the 1989 SHO. Only the California 3.0L was equipped with EGR.

 

[Axianator]

If this guy's SHO has, say, a two-core radiator, and he lives in the north, he could easily run into trouble getting the engine warm enough to exit cold-start mode if he were to run an open coolant system. I would not declare an open system problem-free for all.

While I personally think that it would take some fairly cool ambient temperatures to prevent even an open cooling system from reaching operating temperature, I agree that I should have tagged my original statement with the condition that "an open cooling system will not cause your engine to run any richer than if you were utilizing a factory 192F thermostat, provided said system is capable of reaching a stabilized operating temperature above 160F."