Low temperature thermostat
 

I have searched all over the place and can't seem to find what I am looking for.

I want to know why would you change the thermostat to a low temperature one if the original does it's job correctly? At what point in the weather would the low temp actually be beneficial, I am in Tennessee so not the hottest place around but it has it's days. Is there any way to tell what thermostat is already there? Maybe during the initial heat cycle?
I am asking all of this because I do not know what I have. I don't want to go back to an OEM if the previous owner has a low temp, obviously because it is running good. But if it's OEM it is running good and I wouldn't need the low temp, I suppose.

I am sure this has all been discussed and I am just lost in the amount of thermostat post's out there.

On a side note where have you gotten your <strike>unicorn blood</strike> coolant at?

If I were you I'd just go with the lower temp T-stat regardless of what's in there now. There's no disadvantage to going glower temp. You won't notice the difference much on the temp gauge anyway. I switched mine to the lower temp and the temp gauge remained pretty much where it was.

I got my Water pump, T-stat and coolant from Pelican Parts.

Thanks for the reply piper6909.
Doesn't the most wear happen during the heat up phase and subsequently if the thermostat opens early wouldn't that make it wear for longer?

Hopefully someone with more knowledge about oil will chime in, but I believe that the oil will flow freely enough to lube the engine well below the 160 degree opening temp of the t-stat.

These engines run way too hot with the factory thermostat, primarily for emissions purposes. Lower the coolant temperatures also dramatically lowers the oil temperatures, the oil lives longer and does a better job as the result, without impacting the car's emissions one iota.

Keeping the engine cooler also help the engines thermal efficiency, reducing spark knock, and helping it run harder. Every GT car, cup car, and all the factory turbo cars came with a 160 F thermostat.

And no, you won't see much of a change on the dash display, but that is due to the gauge's rather poor accuracy. Realistically, your engine will have dropped from around 210-220 F to around 170-175 F, will actually warm up quicker, and will still have tons of heat in the winter.

Thank you for this information. This makes my decision a lot easier and gives me piece of mind. I really appreciate the response's. I have been holding off on ordering one because I just couldn't find enough solid info one way or another. :cheers:

How are the thermostats marked to differentiate between the temperatures?

Usually stamped on the unit itself.

the temp (in C) is imprinted on the valve. I think stock is 83c while the low temps are 71 or so.

Thank you, gentlemen.

I was hoping you'd chime in, JFP! Thank you. I was tempted to mention you specifically. :cheers:

Two of the cheapest, and longest lasting, mods you can do to these cars is to lower the coolant and oil temperatures with a low temp stat, and on the base engines install the larger S oil cooler. Literally hundreds of UoA's show this really extends the oil's life and effectiveness.

JFP, the same applies to the 9A1 engines (on the 981's..?)

The direct injection systems on the 9A1 engines add a complication that rear's its ugly head as bore scoring. DI engines suffer from cylinder wall "wash" during start up and cold running; as such they need an even better oil designed to deal with this phenomenon, like the Joe Gibbs Driven DI 40, which carries additional moly along with the ZDDP. 5 K miles would also be the absolute limit on these engines.

Changing the thermostat on some of the 9A1 engines is also somewhat more complicated and many used a complicated "thermal control unit". Fortunately, LN has produced a 160 F unit specifically for these cars from 2009 to 2012. Later cars use an completely electronically controlled system for which there currently is no replacement.

Is this a good oil cooler to get?

Would it be worthwhile to just get a used one from the sale section and new seals?

Problem with buying used units is you do not know their condition until it is too late. Buy new and get all four seals (o-rings of two different sizes).

In Arizona it’s difficult enough to keep it at 180 let alone 160.

We have seen 175 F on a fully instrumented 2001 S running in 100+ F heat.

Thank you for the comments JFP!
I installed the center cooling radiator to help preserve the health of the PDK as well, and hopefully the previous owner took good care of the engine but this would surface later if he didn't (hopefully not with scored cylinders), thanks again!

I have the low temp thermostat on my 986 and thinking about getting it on my 987.2 base (9A1 but with port injection) - from the product notes LN says it might trigger a pending or active CEL:

I'll probably get one when it is time to do the WP.

On my 986 (2000 S) that was heavily tracked, the low temp thermostat let me start a session with a lower "base" of temperature, which prolonged my session time before things got too hot.