Hello all!
I went back through all the old post about this but didn't see anything real clear as to if this mod or drilling 4 holes to the thermostat helped or not ( maybe I missed something). For all you who have tried and done this, did it help keep the temps down?

 

It’s a simple modification.

It will lower coolant temperatures below the regulated 87 degree OE threshold, assuming there’s sufficient airflow across the radiator. During low speed operation, the cooling fan’s activation settings have a far greater effect on operating temperatures than the thermostat. It can be easily modified via STAR-DAS to best exploit the modification.

Be aware that because drilling the thermostat is essentially creating an uncontrolled leak, warm-up times are inordinately increased. Some of us have sourced thermostats with a lower opening temperature to realize the benifit of cooler operating temperatures, yet help minimize wear.

Thermostat-mod2.jpg
photo credit MikeR

 

I have been working on a thermostat redesign to allow us to change the temperature rating 170 - 180 - 190. I am still testing the unit and it seems to be 100% so I will be posting it soon.

My approach is to insert a standard thermostat so that the warm up is not compromised.

Drilling a Pee hole is a good idea to help eliminate that air during a change of the antifreeze - coolent.

The photo attached is a start of the design effort I have been going through.

Enjoy, Woody

 

waldig-
I admire your ingenuity and creative spirit, so please do not misinterpret my feedback. It’s offered for edification purposes only, and not in a disrespectful manner. Our cooling system uses a bypass type thermostat. The large disk (opposite from the outlet) on the original piece seals an internal bypass circuit to enable all of the hot coolant to be directed toward the radiator.

Diagrams D, E and F show the thermostat’s cold-to-hot positioning. If you can locate a cooler ‘stat with comparable dimensions, you’ll be all set.

C32SRT6CoolingSystem.jpg

C32SRT6ThermostatOperaton.jpg

 

I have replaced my Thermostat with the one that TVT sells. I live in AZ so I thought it would be a good investment. Although I did not find it to be beneficial in any sort of noticable way. I wrote a review of my experience, you can read it in this thread. Hope this helps.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ad.php?t=23087

 

Thanks for that bad-@ss diagram. FWIW, you explain yourself in a very courteous and concise manner.

 

Dear Splinter:

Sir: I enjoy learning and thank you for the information, a lot.

I have reviewed the diagram for a while and believe that it is hard to read. The valve diagram shows the flow of the water during the states of the engine, cold - warm / normal - and hot. It is confusing as it shows the valve at inlet of the pump on the top side. I comprehend the operation but loose the thread of how it all comes together.

The thermostat is in the outlet on the engine feeding the radiator. When it opens it feeds water to the radiator and cools the water.

Your observation of the second plate escaped me but I understand the concept more fully now. I believe that the rear thermostat plate moves back to cut off the recirculation of block water.

The water pump has two inlets, radiator return and block. This gives rise to the idea of having full water flow to maximize the engine cooling.

I can tell you that I have a 180 degree stat, my first choice that only controls the outlet to the radiator. This set up seems to work and has survived several autocross events without any overheating. The stat seems to be working well and a tick lower on the temperature gauge.

Because of your reply I will be going back to the drawing board to see if I can gain ever better control of the engine temperature. This is why I wanted to throughly test my ideas before giving them to the forum.

Thanks again, Enjoy Woody

On diagram D - E - F show the flow of water and it is not clear that this must be the water flowing INTO the water pump. I say this as the water always flows out of the block diagram toward the " letter d, e, or f". The hot water would always go into the radiator in the e and f conditions shown. There is a lot of complexity in this critter.

 

Anytime, Woody.

The closest pertinent explanation I could locate from the ol’ reference library was from a 300E service manual. Although its straight-six hardware arrangement is obviously different from ours, the thermostat’s role in regulating coolant temperature is essentially identical.

MB124BypassThermostat_1.jpg

MB124BypassThermostat_2.jpg

Incidentally, if you can supply the dimensions (diameter, cold & hot OA length) of the OE thermostat, I’ll have a look in the Stant and Robertshaw catalogs to see if there are, in fact, any readily available commercial substitutes. Since the rather pricey PTE piece already is bolted on, and I’d rather not R&R it right now…the Mrs. is fixing up some BBQ and has offered a refreshing beverage.

The ‘tower’ mounting for the OE piece could be a potential challenge. A few quick passes with a tap on the housing may be all that’s necessary to properly secure (with two set screws) an inexpensive replacement.

 

http://www.are.com.au/feat/techt/thermostat.htm

 

I still haven't installed my PTE modified 160 deg F thermostat yet....

Those who have done so, please share whether it is worthwhile of a mod. I might try to lower the fan temp threshold by 12 degrees with my SDS first, then maybe install the PTE thermostat.

 

I had a stat redesign that I wrote up only to find that its too cool for the computer in the falling fall temperatures. I had to go to a 180 degree stat, check out my posts if your interested, photos and results there, Enjoy. WOODY

 

I'm taking my SRT6 to a wedding this weekend and its not to be above 40 degrees and from I have read I can't wait to drive it in lower temps.

 

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll need to get a revised 180 Tstat from PTE.

 

From my experience with the modified thermostat, it just takes the car longer to warm up and is the same when hot, having the fans kick on the same as before at a certain temperature. So to me a better thermostat would be for the fans to kick in 10 degrees cooler. So if the stock fans come on at 200 degrees, then a 190 thermostat would be perfect for my car.

 

My stat allows normal heating as it is closed till it opens, no bypass. Now at 180 the stat opens and the engine runs below 1/2 if your moving. The fans rarely come on unless you are sitting as the grill mod allows plenty of air thru the radiators and cooling. I have not had a heat problem while running at red line for up to 30-40 seconds in a 60 second run.

The 182 stat is described in my posting of the thermostat upgrade.

Enjoy the sunlight, Woody

 

I have the PTE thermostat, in addition to the thermostat you also need to have the cooling fans reprogrammed. They are reprogrammed by changing the tempreture % factor of when they come on. Today while testing my car in 55* weather with 3 back to back full pulls to 160 the temp gauge never went above the first 1/4 slash. Sitting stuck in traffic fans will come on below the 1/2 way mark. You basically have to do the two together. If you dyno tune with LET, they can reprogram the fans at that time.

 

I have a LET low temp stat and it runs significantly cooler at cruising speeds.