thermostat

[sim500]

Hi all. I'm pretty sure this has already been covered but I cannot find a thread relating to it. Is the lower opening temperature thermostat a worthy mod or just another ott precaution to make people sleep a little easier re our fragile engines ? Have read about it but would appreciate some feedback from those in the know.

 

[NickCWebb]

Our 2002 (MY2003) 996 C2 is about to have a service at Autostrasse, and when I rang to book, I asked that question and was told that they felt it an unnecessary action. They feel that the cooling system produces such high pressures to circulate the fluid, that a thermostat opening at a different temperature is not necessary. I realise that Hartech have carried out a great deal of research and feel that it shows the benefits of such a modification, but we have used Autostrasse for 16 years, so I trust their judgement and guidance.

 

[andywill]

Hi Simon
There has been lots of discussion about it with various opinions see link below.

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=890015&high=low+temp
don't get to paranoid about it,
hope that helps
Kind regards
Andy

 

[sim500]

Thanks guys. No paranoia, have had the car a year now and all is sweet but its interesting to hear about any worthy low(ish) cost mods that can improve reliability.

 

[vitesse]

In my view,the physics says that having a pressurised cooling system with a chemical /water mix increases the boiling point of the coolant such that it stays in liquid phase-circulation is effected by the coolant pump.
A lower thermostat rating means that the whole cooling system is available earlier where there is risk from localised potential overheating where say the engine is still running on a possibly still closed or partially closed thermostat.
From personal experience with front engined water cooled cars ,(but not the Porsche cars in question),I have always thought that they are overcooled in general & always fitted a hotter 'stat to improve performance/efficiency.
However the "enclosed " nature of the Porsche engine seems to have changed that characteristic.
Just my opinion ,of course.

 

[JagdHamster]

For £50 I think it's crazy not to do this, especially as Hartech say it's the most important protection (after good oil, regularly changed) you can fit.

 

[C2dweller]

One argument that favours the lower temp thermostat is that the bore scoring problem seems more prevalent in larger capacity engines. These will produce more power and hence more heat.

Offsetting this heat increase with a lower 'ambient' temperature must be a good thing.

Of course, doing this modification after 100k miles might be a little late in the day ...