Yep, that's my understanding as well. The 'lower temp is better mentality' seems to come from the big V8 crowd, and perhaps they run better that way... I don't know. But the engines I'm familiar with do much better around 87C, which is more efficient for combustion. My Dad's twin 350s in his boat run around 160F (71C) even under load at 4000rpm. Would they be more efficient at 10C warmer? Maybe, but boaters are overly cautious (for good reason). But VW engines do seem to run best with the stock t-stat, 87C or so. On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 6:41 PM, Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote: > Scott, my impression is that commerce will make whatever people will buy. > Some folks get to thinking that if their engine overheats, putting in a > cooler thermostat will help. It won't. The thermostat is there to raise > the temperature to the stated level. If it is working correctly, it opens > once that temperature is reached. The engine can still overheat, but not > because the thermostat is the stock 87 C thermostat. Overheating is higher > than 87 C. The 80 C thermostat will open at 80 C, but it won't keep the > engine from overheating if there is a problem otherwise, either. If the > engine is overheating, there is a problem other than too hot a thermostat, > and a cooler one will not help. And the reason stock thermostats are 87 C > is because that's the temperature at which the engine runs best (might > actually run better a little hotter, but 87 works, while 80 is too cool). > > Some experts (I'm not one) may have a different explanation, or may even > disagree. > > ---- Scott Chapman <scott_list@MISCHKO.COM> wrote: > > I see that there's lower temp thermostats avaialble for the Westy. > > What's the use of a lower temp thermostat? Stock is 87 and these are 80 > > IIRC. > > -- > David McNeely >
-- Shawn Wright |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.