Thermostat question

[secondchance]

I am getting ready to flush my cooling system and will be going to 180 thermostat.
Question is, is there a gasket for this? Or is it just high temp sealant between the housing and the thermostat? It's been a while and can't remember.

Thanks.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Hey Yun,

There is a seal for the thermostat housing. I don't recall using any sealant, just the seal.

Part number: 10226107
:handshak:

[secondchance]

Thanks, Craig.

[sammy]

the only seal is the rubber gasket that goes around the thermastat. that seals the whole deal

[Daniel_Mc]

sammy
the only seal is the rubber gasket that goes around the thermastat. that seals the whole deal

Sammy's right. Not hard to do at all. Jerry suggested drilling some holes in the thermostat to help the flow of coolant; I did this but haven?t gotten the car back together yet. I?m hoping I drilled them large enough.

Daniel

[bdw18_123]

Where exactly do you drill these holes in the thermostat?

[Kevin]

make sure it's put in the correct way...i went through three rads before the idiots at tom henry chevy listened to me

[Daniel_Mc]

bdw18_123,

I didn't take a picture of the one I did but here is a google search of it.
http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS403US403&q=drilling+holes+in+thermostat&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=807

But when I did the search I ran across this over on the mustang forums:
http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/classic-tech/18205-drilling-holes-thermostat.html

I am now considering just putting a 180 in with the Ron Davis and being done with it.

Daniel

[sammy]

what i did was drill 2 3/32 hole 180 deg apart and install it so one was on the bottem and one on the top . it takes about 10 minutes longer in the winter to get to temp. i found out that 3 1/8 holes were to much for my cars ,causing them to run too cool . i try to have them run as close to 180 as i can .also if they run cooler than 176 the car doesnt go into the learn sec .of the computor .which doesnt effect full throttle but can effect daily driving .

[secondchance]

To drill or not to drill - that is the question...:icon_scra

[HAWAIIZR-1]

To drill or not to drill - that is the question...:icon_scra

I'm a not drill person; my temperature is fine without drilling.

How about the units from Randy Woods? http://www.zr1products.com/#!products

I know it is pricey for a thermostat, but he always does first rate everything and a lot of thought into all of his and Dad's engineered products.

I guess if someone is able to acheive the same results with some drilling I see why they are doing it.

[Daniel_Mc]

What about the coolent itself? I use distilled water and water wetree in the 89 would this be acceptable in the ZR-1?

Daniel

[PhillipsLT5]

I have heard that those thick radiators are not good for A/C?
Maybe someone else can chime in

[sammy]

if you are in a warmer climate as i am .you could use 25% coolant and the rest distilled water . i have tried water wetter and never found any difference in cooling. i guess its mainly made for those that use just water .i like some antifreeze in the system for rust prevention. i also use a rad cap that has the anode attached to also help keep it from getting ate up.

[secondchance]

Well, I blew out one radiator about 6 years ago and I suspect 160 thermostst I was running and at high RPM restriction resulted in pressure build up in the rad - that's my theory.

As for the thicker radiator, there was a discussion in the other forum a few years back. Thought was that in a stop and go traffic, being a bottom breather, fans arn't able to pull sufficient air through the AC condensor and the rad. Thicker rad could make this situation worse.

[A26B]

Daniel,
That Mustang thread is full of BS.
The 3ea 1/8" holes only increase the total flow through the thermostat from the radiator to the engine. They also allow an incremental flow from the engine, through the radiator, through the t-stat past the thermal pill. The notches in the bypass valve on the t-stat also allow coolant to flow by the thermal pill to provide engine temp sensing to the t-stat, thereby controlling opening/closing of the t-stat valve.

What do the 3 holes do? As Sammy said, it will prolong warmup slightly. The benefit is to allow more coolant flow through the radiator during higher rpm usage. This prevents the t-stat bypass from operating as soon. When the bypass opens, coolant from the engine bypasses the radiator and goes straight back to the engine....hot.

The drilling of small holes does not affect the temperature regulation of the thermostat very much.

BTW, you cannot install the correct thermostat for the ZR-1 LT5 engine , backwards. It is impossible. If a thermostat was ever installed backwards in the LT5, it was the wrong thermostat.

This is a good time to offer a word of caution when buying a thermostat. I recently went through a real hassle buying one for a customer in Australia. Sure, Autozone & others show them, special order.. When my order came in, the t-stat "looked" essentially correct but it wasn't. No notches in the bypass valve. You can read more about this subject on Jerrys Gaskets under the thermostat part. I'm not trying to sell anything here, just want you yo know about it..

[sammy]

i had the same problem with a stat that i ordered from napa . so i just bit the bullet and got 2 from randy . i really like the 170s he has my car runs between 180-185 . which is about perfect for me

[sammy]

i had the same problem with a stat that i ordered from napa . so i just bit the bullet and got 2 from randy . i really like the 170s he has my car runs between 180-185 . which is about perfect for me . oh on the aftermarket radiator . i the callaway car came with one and it gets alot hotter in stop and go traffic with the air on .my 90 with the stk setup runs right a 192 in the same traffic. to me it seems that the big aluminum rad does cause a flow problem with the air on . jmho

[bdw18_123]

So are there any other places that are known to have the correct thermostat with the notch other than the Randy Woods ones?

I'm sure the RW ones are nice and worth the price, but they are just too expensive for me right now.

[A26B]

I carry the Standt, my personal choice.
http://jerrysgaskets.com/store2/root/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=592

Gates makes one that appears to be correct, but I have not had it in my hand to confirm. Beware of all other brands, Failsafe, Duralast , etc.

[secondchance]

I carry the Standt, my personal choice.
http://jerrysgaskets.com/store2/root/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=592

Gates makes one that appears to be correct, but I have not had it in my hand to confirm. Beware of all other brands, Failsafe, Duralast , etc.

Hi, Jerry,

I ordered a Standt 180 from Advanced Auto. I will check visually one it arrives. Do you think it's a good idea to drill a couple of 1/8" holes?

[A26B]

I ordered 2 from Advance Auto, 1 was correct, the other was incorrect in a correct box.. They tried to reorder & found none in stock anywhere.. Good luck!

Re drilling holes: I drilled 3 holes & it made a big enough difference that I still have the new Ron Woods 160F stat in the drawer. It gets hot in Oklahoma.

[ZZZZZR1]

Hi, Jerry,

I ordered a Standt 180 from Advanced Auto. I will check visually one it arrives. Do you think it's a good idea to drill a couple of 1/8" holes?

I thought about doing a 160 Randy Woods thermostat, but ended up asking Pete to drill holes in my stock unit. Also installed a Ron Davis Radiator.

Wow it runs "cooler"!!!!!

:cheers:

David

[secondchance]

I thought about doing a 160 Randy Woods thermostat, but ended up asking Pete to drill holes in my stock unit. Also installed a Ron Davis Radiator.

Wow it runs "cooler"!!!!!

:cheers:

David

Hey,

Runs cooler at all times? How is it crawling in 90 plus day w/ ac on?

[ZZZZZR1]

Hey,

Runs cooler at all times? How is it crawling in 90 plus day w/ ac on?

When "crawling" I don't test it, I turn the AC off. :)

[secondchance]

When "crawling" I don't test it, I turn the AC off. :)

Woops! I forgot - it's a ninja turtle.:cheers:

[secondchance]

I checked the part number on the 180 degree thermostat and per Stant website confirmed that it was for vin code "J".
Drained the coolant and with some reluctance removed three bolts (2 for housing and one to bracket). Reluctant because the last time I removed these bolts I ended up stripping threads (corrosion caused by different metal and coolant?) and had to have the car towed to a local Midas. They had it helicoiled and assembled so there was no way for me to know how well it was done.
Housing bolts came out easy enough but the bolt to the bracket was tough. May have stripped this one since it seemed to keep turning while being reassembled.
Any way, I did drill 4 x 3/32" holes before the install, filled w/ anti-freeze and topped off w/ distilled water.
I noticed coolant recovery bottle had greenish crustation. So, I took it off the car and tried to get the crud off w/ an end of a wooden cooking utencil but there was no way to clean upper inside. So, I went ahead and ordered a new one from Corvette Central.
Crusing into work it was about 78 degrees and water temp was between 192 to 203 depending on the traffic and rpm. Real test will be going home this afternoon since we are expecting 95 degrees or so and traffic for sure.
I figure in traffic with AC on she will probably climb up to 225 plus since the limiting factor I think is the air movement through the rad and AC condenser. Therefore, lower temp thermostat eventually will not make much difference but we shall see.
As expected, going from factory thermostat to 180 seems to have dropped the temp by 15 degrees as expected.

[tomtom72]

Yun, which bolt? The top bolt that holds the bracket to the housing? Check that one as it may take a thread repair kit....I botched the initial threads on one of the other bolts that hold the housing halves together, and they are not blind holes so I just ran a tap thru and bought longer bolts. I think it was the bolt without the bracket....it was a few yrs ago so I don't remember exactly. I was thinking I was screwed, but when I looked & found that the holes were not blind I was relieved.

I'm almost positive the bracket to housing bolt is blind....you would think I'd remember, damn senility stinks!

:cheers:
Tom

[secondchance]

Yun, which bolt? The top bolt that holds the bracket to the housing? Check that one as it may take a thread repair kit....I botched the initial threads on one of the other bolts that hold the housing halves together, and they are not blind holes so I just ran a tap thru and bought longer bolts. I think it was the bolt without the bracket....it was a few yrs ago so I don't remember exactly. I was thinking I was screwed, but when I looked & found that the holes were not blind I was relieved.

I'm almost positive the bracket to housing bolt is blind....you would think I'd remember, damn senility stinks!

:cheers:
Tom

Bolts that clamp housing together are both fine fortunately. One bolt that holds the bousing to the bracket seems to be stripped. I figure the next time the car is on the lift at one of WAZOO meet I can get a better look and figure a solution. Either way, this is not that critical - right?
I did this with driver side jacked up w/ Corvette jack (I know not a good idea but I was only partially under the car) out at the condo car wash area and really did not want to turn into a major production.
Tom - I know what you mean about getting old.
Any chance you can make WAZOO get together at Glenn's this Saturday in Annapolis?

[tomtom72]

Yun, looking in my 90's FSM I do believe that the bracket uses the two top bolts if I'm not mistaken? The bolt on top rear is an open backed hole so if that's the one you are concerned with it should be no problem to correct. In any event when I go clean my car tonight I will have a look so I can speak more positively. I do think that my earlier post is not accurate as to which bolt holes are blind and which are not. Senility still stinks!

Let me do a map quest on Annapolis as I have never been there. Hummmm, 9 hrs round trip....let me ponder this one.

:cheers:
Tom

[secondchance]

Thanks, Tom. Looking at the housing I figured the 3rd bolt wouldn't be a major issue although I will correct it.

Well, driving back home yesterday it was 95-97 degrees here. Some 60 plus mph and rush hour crawl. Despite 97 ambient temp at 50 plus mph coolant temp stayed at around 200 (about 13 degrees lower than before). 15-20 minutes of crawling in the traffic Z mainteained 218-220 with AC on. Eventually by the the time I got home she was at 227 w/ 216 oil temp. Before I would have gone past 230 and would have had to turn the AC off to drop the temp. So, thermostat change most definately helped. However, I am not sure drilling holes helped even further or not.

Bottom line, it seems, at ambient temp of 90 plus w/ AC on, heat produced is higher than the amount of heat that can be rejected not so much due to radiator but rather insufficient air flow. That being the case, I wonder replacing at least one of factory fans w/ an after market higher flow fan would put an end to this fear of over heating once and for all. Factory fans look to be 16" dia. (did not measure it yet). Anyone know what CFM factory fans are rated at? Looking at Summit catalog 16" are available between 2100 to 3600 CFM. It couldn't be that hard to rig same diameter fan to factory harness and typically engineers build in extra amp to the circuits - just a thought.

[tomtom72]

Yun, if I'm not mistaken your model yr has updated fans. They are supposed to have totally sealed motors and have a higher rpm limit with redesigned blades to move a lot more air than the early fans ( 90 - 92 I think? I know 90 for sure! ). I still have my OEM set up & I keep meaning to go to vette recycling to get me the newer set up.

The only electrical knowledge I can offer up is on A/C circuits. UL & trade standards say that any circuit should only be loaded to 80% of the rated amp load at the breaker. That's a safety margin so when people make a birds nest at any duplex device ( outlet in non-electrician speak ) they don't pop the breaker and overheat the wire gauge ( as that isn't a good thing ). I do not know if this applies to DC circuits. I would figure that there has to be some load safety margin even in a DC circuit.
:cheers:

[secondchance]

Yun, if I'm not mistaken your model yr has updated fans. They are supposed to have totally sealed motors and have a higher rpm limit with redesigned blades to move a lot more air than the early fans ( 90 - 92 I think? I know 90 for sure! ). I still have my OEM set up & I keep meaning to go to vette recycling to get me the newer set up.

The only electrical knowledge I can offer up is on A/C circuits. UL & trade standards say that any circuit should only be loaded to 80% of the rated amp load at the breaker. That's a safety margin so when people make a birds nest at any duplex device ( outlet in non-electrician speak ) they don't pop the breaker and overheat the wire gauge ( as that isn't a good thing ). I do not know if this applies to DC circuits. I would figure that there has to be some load safety margin even in a DC circuit.
:cheers:

I agree that it may not be a good idea to push the limit. Perhaps an inline fuse could be a safety net?
Granted, 90 plus days occur perhaps 15 days out of a year but this mod seems to simple - $200 experiment. We shall see.