I'm going to flush my radiator this weekend and change out the thermostat while I'm at it, I was wondering if putting in a 170 therm on a stock 3.4 would have any added benefit over a 180 therm? I searched thru the threads and all I could find was engines that have the SC and or URD. Any feedback is appreciated!

 

It would help cool your auto tranny better, but I see you have a Hayden cooler so you may not need that benefit.

 

Will it give any performance such as better mpg, more hp assuming that the engine will be running cooler? Are there any drawbacks to using a cooler therm on a stock engine as opposed to using the 180 therm?

 

you want to make sure that your engine does warm up to 'operating temps' it burns gas more efficently that way, and helps keep the oil the right consistency, but I would think that 170 is as good as 180, my thinking is that it may not help a lot, but I dont really see that it can hurt.

 

Nope, if anything it will hurt the fuel economy just a fraction.

 

Here is a good article on the benefits and drawbacks of using different temp thermostats. http://www.carnut.com/ramblin/cool3.html Looks like 180 is a good combination between power and engine wear.....

I think the reason a 170 is used at all is to help combat localized hot spots and the dreaded "pinging" that can be induced by supercharging and higher cylinder pressures/intake charge temperatures.

 

Good link, I think I'll just change out the old therm and put in an OEM 180 therm and flush the system. Thanks everyone for the feedback!

 

Yeah, good link. Thanks

 

A bottle of Redline's Waterwetter does actually help maintain a little cooler head temp. I ran a bottle of this and a 10/90 mixture of coolant/water in my Eclipse in during summer race season.

 

Hmmm.... kinda makes you wonder about the 160 (I believe) that TRD puts in the 7th kit - don't it???

 

That's kinda why I started this thread, in searching all I found was 160 and 170 therm's in engines that were SC'd.

By the way not to digress from the topic, does anyone recommend a brand of flush or should I just stick with water?

 

Just flush with water, the flush chemicals can do more harm than good.
Check out this thread for all the coolant info (warning, possible info overload):

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...900#post811900

 

Jaime,

That is some well informed reading, Thanks for the heads up!