Thermostat questions

[Red94Roadster]

I have a small coolant leak that appears to be coming from the thermostat housing. This will be my first trip to the dealer for Viper maintenance. I live in a suburb of Detroit and need suggestions for a dealer to have it fixed. I've heard people say Dick Scott Dodge, but he's a bit far...anything closer to Royal Oak?

Also, another member recommended having the thermostat replaced with a 180 degree stat. How exactly do these work? I assume the whole idea is to make the car run cooler, but if it was as simple as changing the thermostat, wouldn't Dodge do that at the factory? What are the benefits and drawbacks of a cooler thermostat? My car is stock right now, and I'm hesitant to do any "mods" that will affect the vehicle longevity.

Thanks

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

All the t-stat will do is open sooner than your stock t-stat. The car will still get to the same temperature, but it won't get as hot before the t-stat opens.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

What Chad said.

But if you access to the stat I'd drill a hole in it to make burping the system easier.

 

[Red94Roadster]

Does that make the coolant not last as long? There has to be some sort of drawback???

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

The cooler thermostat will cause the engine to run in a different part of the factory air/fuel/MAP/timing PCM map which may make the engine seem to perform better.

In the days of carburetors, when the carburetor sat directly on the intake manifold (and in some engines, had the exhaust crossover underneath it) keeping the coolant at a lower temperature kept the incoming air at a lower temperature also. The cooler air and fuel was more dense and would result in more power. With fuel injection and spider type manifolds, this isn't really the case. To gain a similar performance advantage, it would be more effective to ensure the engine does not consume underhood air or keep the underhood air cooler. (NACA ducting, spoilers, hood scoops, etc.)

The coolant life will not be affected.

Engine oil temperatures are not greatly affected by coolant temperature, but anything that keeps the oil below the boiling temperature of water will aggravate oil life. Water attracts many oil additives and renders them unavailable for their regular functions.

The engine coolant temperature may be lower with light loads, but under heavier load, the temperatures will be the same. It can only run cooler under load with some improvement in heat transfer (bigger radiator, better fluid {i.e. greater percentage of water} or more airflow.) The 180 thermostat is like opening your window at 9AM on a sunny day instead of 10AM. At 3PM it will still be as hot.