160 Thermostat on order!
 

Just thought I would let ya'll know that I ordered a 160 stat from LN. Useless post. :cheers:

Hopefully there in stock being that I have to change my coolant and though why waste the opportunity to mod some more....

Welcome to the club...

Did the same when I had the coolant changed after my cap failure last summer. So far needle reads lower than with the stock thermo. Haven't really been on a trip on a warm day to really challenge it but it the needle does read lower. Seems like ever since I had it installed my section of the globe has significantly cooled, go figure!

Along these mod lines, I recently picked up copy # 185 of the UK publication, "911 & Porsche World" and it has a nice review of the larger capacity oil sump which helps hard cornering cars from oil starving on long fast corners. Nice photo essay as installed by Autofarm. LNEngineering along with Jake Raby carry the kit.


AKL

I actually am considering the mod during the winter break. Can you (and anyone who has installed it) just give us an idea on what it takes to install it and how muc time it takes?

Thanks!

Michael

The low temp unit takes the same time to install as a stock T-stat.
I install one in every engine I build and I have one in both my test cars.

Look for an install DVD for the unit around Christmas...

what are the benefits to the improved stat

...and the reason for installing a 160 degree thermostat? The factory one is set to high causing overheat problems? (Mines rock solid at 184). Fooling the computer that the engine is cold so it enriches the fuel? Old one doesn't flow enough coolant? Or is the oil temp to high and the lower temp thermostat will save the oils viscosity?

I'd love to hear the theory behind it.

im under the impression ur not a fan of the LN stat?

Although this has been covered many times, the low temperature thermostat doesn't trick the engine into warm up enrichment. Remember, if the engine doesn't go out of warm up enrichment in a certain window, it triggers a CEL. The DME is always adapting to hit it's target air/fuel ratios. Just because the coolant temp is lower doesn't mean it's going to run richer, it will run the same AFR! A cooler engine increases volumetric efficiency and more timing can be run safely, again timing being a variable that the engine can adjust.

The simplest answer for a low temperature thermostat is that other Porsche models have them and Porsche has been migrating to lower thermostat temperatures over the last few years on all their models. Just because Porsche did it, doesn't mean it's perfect or right.

Reducing the coolant temperature will reduce oil (and ATF, in tip cars) temperatures, which run 10-15F higher than the coolant temp in normal driving. If that was the only gain, that would be plenty in my book. Other benefits and general principals have been discussed in earlier threads.

We already know that the casting alloys used by Porsche for the M96 are suspect and do suffer from cracking and failures. A simple 15-25F degree reduction in temperature can translate into an increase of several thousand psi of the tensile strength of an aluminum alloy. There are areas of the engine much hotter than what the temperature gauge indicates. Depending on the alloy, you can lose an additional 30 to 50% tensile strength from 212F to 300F.

Did you read my post? LN does great research and development to right the wrongs that our dear OEM did not and will not. I just want to understand the principal behind it.

Think of it like politics, I'm not going to act like a sheep because of what someone says, I want to know the background, path and if it makes sense.

cnavarro, thanks for the explanation. It does have merit.

Just because the factory didn't offer it doesn't mean that its wrong...

I see benefits from the installation of this unit all the time...

I also have 3 sets of cracked heads in my shop right now, none of them came from cars that had "overheated".

Charles and I took the research supporting this unit's development very seriously, nits not just some tuner part thats advertised well but doesn't work. If it was I wouldn't include them on the engines that have my name stamped into them reconstructed with advanced components.

jax i was asking a question to you when i read ur post i wasnt sure if it was sarcasm or if it was just a serious inquiry or what. i did not mean any offense or the sort i was just confused from ur post what your standpoint was :cheers:

Lobo1186, no harm no foul bro. :cheers:

JAAY are you doing yourself? Let us know how it goes..

Of coarse I am doing it myself. After that look for my base dyno and then my dyno with techno torque installed maybe late next week. It all depends on when my thermostat comes in. My techno torque will be here on Tuesday.

I changed mine in the garage; it's really pretty simple. It took more time to drain the old coolant and mess with that, than install the new t-stat. I even sold my OEM t-stat and housing on eBay to cover some of the cost of the upgrade (car had 16k miles).

My Box nows runs happy and cooler with lower temps and new juice running throughout.

That is hilarious that someone bought a used thermostat on ebay! You can sell anything on ebay!

Is pressure bleeding of the cooling system necessary after opening it up? Wouldn't want get any nasty dry pockets happening..?

Pressure bleeding is a really good thing.. I feel that quite a few of the head cracks that people are experiencing are coming from cooling systems with pockets that create hot spots..

How do I do pressure bleed? Jake empty your inbox. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYokLWfqbaU

I bought the t-stat from jmatta. I wanted to get a cheap t-stat that I could do a little work with. When I used to drag race Chevies, one of the tricks we had for cooling was to drill a couple of small holes in the plate that opens and closes. This does two things. First, it gets a little coolant flowing before the t-stat opens. Second, when the t-stat is open, it provides a bit more flow.
So, I've done this with the used t-stat. Here's what I'm seeing:
Once the car gets up to temperature (which does take longer now), the average running temp shows lower than before. Before, my gauge read anywhere from straight up vertical to the far right side of the "0" in the "180". Now, on the highway, the temp stays on the hash mark under the 180. In town, the needle will move over to split the "8" and the "0", but I have yet to see it go as far as it did before. Once I get moving, the needle will move back to the left of vertical. This may be due in some part to a modification I made to the center radiator. I've put GT3 RS type openings in front of the hood, moved the radiator forward about 1", and routed all of the air through the center radiator to exit through the RS ducts, over the car.
My biggest reason for experimenting with the t-stat was the cost of the LN model. I trust their data on the value of a cooler running engine, but when 944, Audi, Benz, etc low temp t-stats are $30-40, the cost of the LN model is a bit high.

I installed this 160 T-Stat on my 3.6 Boxster couple weeks ago and i love it, car feels like it runs faster and it more responsive!

The high cost comes from having to purchase a complete factory housing & gasket which includes a stock thermostat that we throw away. We then have made up in small runs due to cost, a quality low temp thermostat to fit the factory housing, made in Germany. We didn't want to skimp on something like this.

Not to cut into your business, but I thought that maybe there was a VW, Audi, or Benz 160 T-stat that would swap right in. No such luck?
By the way, any thoughts on my mod?
2000 986S, 125,000 miles w/ 3 seasons of AX, headers, intake w/dryflow filter, gutted cats, modified muffler.

Nope, I tried that first. No such luck on finding something else out there that would work.

I've toyed with the idea of drilling the low temp one as well in warmer weather, at least in our track car, to see how it performs, but in cold weather that mod will throw a code as the engine doesn't warm up fast enough. If the temperature drops below 160F after warmup, it probably will throw a code as well, or at least with OBD2 it should.

Glad to see my used t-stat found a purpose in life, rather than sitting on my shelf forever. I've sold all sorts of 911 and 986 parts on eBay, usually very cheap. I'd rather someone use them, than have them sit around gathering dust.

Thanks again, j.fro...

Did you find out how to pressure bleed? I think you would have to buy a rig for this ..

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