how to install a 180 termostat (with pictures)

[alexcoqui]

This is the way I did it. If I messed something up, Im shure someone with more knoledge will chip in & correct me.

First step is to drain the cooling system. Open the radiator cap.


Then look under the car, the bottom driver's side of the radiator. There is a drain nipple. Unscrew it, & remember to have a canister under there to catch the liquid. (letting the coolant run down the street is ilegal.)


There are two screws holding the termostat housing.


But before you remove them I sugest to umplug the vacume line that is on the way, & move it to a safe place where it wont get damaged.

[alexcoqui]

I drilled two holes on the new termostat. Im not shure if there is a spesific size & placement of the holes for better performance. But I just did it by eye. after drilling the holes I noticed that there where little metal shavings stuck to where I had drilled, so using a bigger drill bit, I smothed both sides of the holes. (dont want loose pieces of metal moving freely inside your engine.)


The way the system was designed, it dont need a housing gasket. Only a termostat gasket. So the housing is soposed to come out easily. Sometimes mechanics will add silicone between the housing & the engine, so if it gets hard to pull out. carfully use a flathead scredriver to prie it out.

For the placement of the termostat. Have one of the holes in the highest level posible, so that the air left inside the Lower Intake Manifold can come out .

another thing to remember is to clean the flat surfaces with a razorblade.

Now is time to reinstall the termostat housing & tight both screws. Then reinstall the vacume line, & the radiator hose if it was disconected.
Then go back to the radiator & reinstal the drain nipple & fill the radiator with coolant. (when my radiator was full, I pressed the top hose a couple of times, & the coolant went down.)

Leave the radiator cap open.

Open the valve on top of the termostat housing.

Notice I added a pice of towel to catch the fluid when it comes out.

Now turn the car on with the valve open & wait one or two minutes until coolant starts to come out. Close the valve, add more coolant to the radiator, & close it.
Now is time to wait for the car to reach normal operating temperature. When it does open & close the valve a couple of times to let the rest of the air out. turn off the car, Wait till it gets colder, & add coolant to the radiator. & the job is done.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Looks all right to me! That's exactly how I did my stat. Well, aside from only having 1 hole half-covered by the gasket to prevent excess coolant from getting through.

[alexcoqui]

after driving the car for a few days, the diffrence in temperature has been about 3 or 4 degrees.


Not a lot, but good for the amount of money & time spendt.

[harofreak00]

The stock GM Dash gauge will always read 200 when the ECT temp is between 180 and 221. This is so customers don't freak out when their gauge fluctuates all the time based on outside temps. Putting a 180 thermostat in the car only causes the t-stat to open at 180 not keep the car at 180 degrees. You need to have your fan points programmed to come on sooner in order to keep the temps down, especially at idle.

[firebuick]

whit my 180 drill stat stock computer i see whit the car running around 181 to 185 (aeroscan gauge ) but in traffic it will go up to more than 200 sometime to 220

but overall on the highway im about 10 degrees cooler whit the drill 180

[Bugsi]

Would it be too much to ask, when posting a "How To" article, to run it through a spell checker if spelling isn't your strong area? (20 misspellings.)

[gonzo4191]

don't be mean lol j/k j/k english isn't his strong launguage at all, anyways, nice write up

[Bugsi]

I have no intent to be mean, the poster asked for commentary on the writeup. I fully understand people not being experts at one language or another. That being the case, word processors have very good spell checkers these days, and are easy to use.

[2003blackbonniese]

thank-you this should get me on my way

[01bonneSC]

There is a drain nipple.

Technical term for this piece = Pet-Cock
Just FYI

Good Write Up!

[Water 97SSEi]

Thanks for writing this, I'm surprised no one else has posted a how-to on this yet considering how common this mod is among members. Will definitely help those of us who are not as mechanically skilled.

[willwren]

Be advised that the size of hole Alex drilled is for HIS climate. That's far too large for most members here.

[Barry]

I would only add that I use a 1/4" i.d. hose that I put down the radiator opening and siphon the coolant into a container rather than climbing under the car. Coolant stays clean, I stay clean. Much easier IMHO.