thermostate question

[king4u253]

so i was planning on putting a 160 degree thermostate in my celebrity 2.8 but while listening to the show cartalk(npr) there was somthing said about thermosates opening to soon in coulder weather makes you burn more gas.....i always thought the cooler ur engine the more horsepower it produced. now i live in washington state yes it rains alot but the tempatures dont normally drop below 40so it dosent get to cold here

[robertisaar]

there is some truth to it, since at lower coolant temps, AE is more agressive, but you should still enter closed loop at roughly the same time. it will generally also increase emissions. also: colder, thicker oil is harder to pump through the engine, which saps power away that would normally be used to move the vehicle.

[geoffinbc]

An engine will make more power the hotter it is. But you need to have a safety margin to keep from overheating. So 200*F is the norm. Cars today are routinely running at 210*F.

Keep the stock thermostat its worth power, fuel mileage and cleaner burning engine. Also the hotter the engine is that faster it will evaporate/boil off the water that condenses in the crank case of a cold motor and burn it off through the PCV system.

[pocket-rocket]

I've also read running too cold of a t-stat will accelerate cylinder wall wear.