160 Thermostat Vs 180?

Taino · May 22, 2012

Florida heat worrying me, I have a 180 in there right now. Stays true till I'm stuck in traffic and the temp goes to the half way mark, maybe a little more with A\C on. I have a good 2 core radiator and noticed my OEM fan has cracks (Will replace soon) .....anyways, with the Fl heat the last thing I want is the car to overheat. Any thoughts? too cold? car won't reach proper temp?

Gearbanger 101 · May 22, 2012

You shouldn't need a 160 thermostat for any reason. The 180 should be more than adequate....to be honest, you could probably get away with the stock 195. The car will run a lot cleaner, that's for certain.

Are you replacing the fan with another clutch fan, or are you going to go electric?

David Pepiton · May 22, 2012

i would recommend going electric with a 3g swap if you havent done that already. but keep in mind youll want to get a fan shroud to help improve cooling capabilities

Taino · May 23, 2012

Not going electric, just replacing the OEM clutch fan with a new one, Figured cracks weren't allowing fan to work at 100%

Noobz347 · May 23, 2012

Taino said:
Not going electric, just replacing the OEM clutch fan with a new one, Figured cracks weren't allowing fan to work at 100%

I'm a fan of the OEM Ummmm... fan. When you go to replace it, don't just replace the fan... replace the clutch assembly with it.

You've not said what you see your temps get to when you're sitting in traffic. Are they high?

Taino · May 23, 2012

Definitly changing out clutch assembly and fan all together. In traffictemp gauge goes up to just above the half way mark (Dont have a exsact #for ya) But once in motion temp frops just below Middle mark

Noobz347 · May 23, 2012

Taino said:
Definitly changing out clutch assembly and fan all together. In traffictemp gauge goes up to just above the half way mark (Dont have a exsact #for ya) But once in motion temp frops just below Middle mark

Well swapping the fan and clutch is never a bad idea as they age etc... but it might be worth your time to get a reading on the actual temps before changing up the rest of your cooling system.

Taino · May 23, 2012

Dont have the tools at home to get exact measurement, Trust me if i had the $$$ I'd get a 3 core rediator, latest Electric fan but not the case. I have to work with what I have and keep it affordable for me. I'll stop by a buddys shop and see if I can get a read with there temperture gun lazer reader thingamajiger. Other than that car is running good, Trying to keep the car up to date and running. Not bad for 285.000 miles

Noobz347 · May 23, 2012

Taino said:
Dont have the tools at home to get exact measurement, Trust me if i had the $$$ I'd get a 3 core rediator, latest Electric fan but not the case. I have to work with what I have and keep it affordable for me. I'll stop by a buddys shop and see if I can get a read with there temperture gun lazer reader thingamajiger. Other than that car is running good, Trying to keep the car up to date and running. Not bad for 285.000 miles

That's all you really need. You might even be able to talk your buddy into loaning you his temp gun for a weekend so you can pull temp periodically. The funny thing is; the hotter you water temps, the more efficient the radiator becomes at exchanging that heat.

For example: at 100* the radiator might pull 20* at volume but will pull 60* from 190* temps at volume (just an example). So if on a really hot day, with the A/C running and sitting in traffic, your temp don't get over say... 200* total, then I'd say you're good and don't require gobs of money being tossed into the cooling system.

Gearbanger 101 · May 23, 2012

Taino said:
Dont have the tools at home to get exact measurement, Trust me if i had the $$$ I'd get a 3 core rediator, latest Electric fan but not the case. I have to work with what I have and keep it affordable for me. I'll stop by a buddys shop and see if I can get a read with there temperture gun lazer reader thingamajiger. Other than that car is running good, Trying to keep the car up to date and running. Not bad for 285.000 miles

You could put in a junkyard electric fan and DC controller for about the same price as you could buy a new clutch fan assembly for.

I don't believe at all that small cracks in the fan are affecting its cooling ability in the slightest. My fan too had small, spider cracks in it. Some were cracked half way through and I was certain I was going to find one of the blades lodged in my radiator one day. The nice thing about the clutch fans are, is that when the clutch does go...it ceases solid, so the fan runs all of the time. It may rob horsepower that way, but the last thing it does is decrease airflow.

Personally....I don't think a new clutch fan is going to make a difference as far as your temperature fluctuation goes. An electric fan, that you can set to come on earlier on the other hand, just might.

Seeing the dummy gauge reach the half way mark is probably exactly where it’s supposed to run. That being said….don’t put too much faith into the stock gauge either. Get yourself an infra red thermometer and find out what your coolant temperature is for certain before you go spending money on the system. You might be surprised to find out that there’s nothing wrong with it at all.

Taino · May 23, 2012

No electric Fan, Staying with OEM setup! Will look into what the infra red thermometer reads.

Gearbanger 101 · May 23, 2012

Curious....but why the hate on for the electric fan?

Taino · May 23, 2012

I'll pose the same question? Why insist on electric fan. No hate, just have to keep it within budget. I'm happy keeping it OEM, Hope this settles your curiosity.

Gearbanger 101 · May 23, 2012

Taino said:
I'll pose the same question? Why insist on electric fan. No hate, just have to keep it within budget. I'm happy keeping it OEM, Hope this settles your curiosity.

Since you asked....I threw the E-Fan suggestion out there for many reasons. First and foremost....more consistent cooling and temperature control. Electronic temperature sensor probes are far more accurate than a mechanical clock spring.

Second....the E-Fan robs no horsepower. Once warmed up, clutch fans are always spinning to some degree. The clutch never completely disengages, it just slips. It's always using horsepower. Sometimes it's only a little, but sometimes it's a lot. The amount of power it robs is as inconsistent as it's cooling capability.

Third....reliability. Clutch fans cease up, blades break off and they put additional stress on water pump bearings.

Fourth....it's leaves a cleaner engine bay IMO.

Finally...cost. A ner replacement OEM fan and clutch system will run you into the $180 range. Just to replace what you've got. No upgrade, or improvment.

Quite frankly....the only really high point about running the clutch fan was that 25-years ago, they were cheap for the manufacturer to mass produce.

I hope this settles your curiosity.....because again.....you asked.

stykthyn · May 23, 2012

Taurus fan can be had for 50 dollars. Fan controller is another 100 or so. Same ball park as replacing stock parts and like said more consistent cooling.

Noobz347 · May 23, 2012

....and on the other side...

Still running my original OEM fan. It's an 86. The OEM clutch lasted 21 or so years.

OEM clutch style mechanical fans move a TON more air. Ever see an electric blow all the leaves off the driveway as you roll out for work?

Gearbanger 101 · May 23, 2012

Noobz347 said:
....and on the other side...

Still running my original OEM fan. It's an 86. The OEM clutch lasted 21 or so years.

OEM clutch style mechanical fans move a TON more air. Ever see an electric blow all the leaves off the driveway as you roll out for work?

A ton more air when....when you notice too late and the temperature gauge has spiked while you weren't paying attention on your rush hour commute home and have to sit there like a dummy in traffic with your engine revving at 3,000RPM in neutral to bring it back down again because your clutch fan didn't move enough air at idle....that kind of "TON more air"?

As cool as it may look, blowing leaves off the driveway in the morning isn't when you need that airflow.

Electric fans move the same volume of air whether you're at idle, or 6,000RPM....especially in blistering, stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic.....when it counts.

Taino · May 24, 2012

All good point, Thank you all for your input. Have a great day.

RacEoHolic330 · May 24, 2012

I'm relatively certain the 3.8 Taurus fan has a 4400 CFM rating. That is some serious air movement for a single fan. It's the main reason why I bought one for my setup. Just to add a little more fuel to the mechanical vs. electrical fan debate: List 5 new cars that come with mechanical cooling fans

ratio411 · May 24, 2012

Gearbanger 101 said:
You shouldn't need a 160 thermostat for any reason. The 180 should be more than adequate....to be honest, you could probably get away with the stock 195. The car will run a lot cleaner, that's for certain.

Are you replacing the fan with another clutch fan, or are you going to go electric?

On the same topic, so hopefully this isn't seen as a hijacking....

What happens to a 5.0 EFI when you run a 160?
I am from the old school, where the 160 was manditory.
I have a 160 in all 3 of our EFI 5.0s, and now I notice people saying that 160 is bad for an EFI.

Out of the 3 5.0s we have, the 2 HO versions have regular tuning issues, I am wondering if the stat could be a problem.
The non-HO 5.0, in my F150, doesn't seem to mind it, but it is a heavy workhorse, and would run hotter with the little engine anyway.
(Plus the truck is the only one that is SD instead of MAF)

Thanks!

160 Thermostat Vs 180?

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