>
> I just got off the phone with the Stant-Thompson Tech. line
> (800-894-7310) trying to confirm I got the right part # for my '98 Dak
> with the 5.2L 318... The reason I called is my local Pep Boys
> recommended p/n 59358 for a 180 deg. heavy duty thermo. and I noted in
> your (great!) instructions that your p/n was 65358... Well, first the
> guy wanted to know why I wanted to put a 180 in the truck as a 195 is
> called for. When I told him I wanted mainly to eliminate some minor
> pinging and secondarily to perhaps get a little more HP, he basically
> said I was all wet! He said the lower temp. thermo. would screw-up my
> emissions because the computer would think the engine was always cold
> and run in a rich condition --like having the choke on all the time...
> When I pressed him a little bit to just find out if this thing would
> fit before I started ripping into the engine... he wouldn't tell me!
> Said I couldn't trick him into recommending the wrong part for the
> engine and I should take it to the dealer (he's either wound too tight
> or he's on the wrong side of the paranoia line!)...
>
> Soooooo what gives? Is this a good, bad or marginal mod for the
> truck? My main goal is to eliminate some minor pinging and if this is
> part of the cure how do I find out what the right p/n is for a '98 as
> even the manufacturer won't tell me?! Also, what's the opinion from
> the list of what this guy is telling me?
Sounds to me like the guy you talked to was all wet, not the other way
around. :-) He might have been a Ford or Chevy guy who knows nothing
about Mopars, who knows? (Keep in mind that I don't have all the
answers either, but I'll tell you what I know...) I suspect that he
might have been trying to cover the manufacturer's butt. Its one thing
to make a part different than stock which will fit, but its another
thing to go around recommending them to people, I guess.
What I did was to go to my local Parts America and told them I
wanted a thermostat. They looked it up on their computer; I told
them the make, model, year, engine size, etc. and it gave a list
of thermostats of varying temperatures and such. I told them I
was looking for a 180 degree thermostat, and not the stock 195
degree one. They pulled up the part number, grabbed the thermostat
off the shelf, and I paid them. No sweat. :-) I'm not sure why
my part number would be different than the one Pep Boys gave you.
Its possible that the engine has changed I guess (not likely) or
maybe Stant has changed their part numbers. I would suggest going
into (or calling) Pep Boys and asking them what the difference is
between the part number they gave you and the one from my web page.
I've been told that the computer likes to see the engine hit about
180 degrees. (Sean, do you remember where you read that?) The
computer will NOT think the temp is too low and run the engine in a
too-rich condition; I don't see anything that would indicate that might
happen. Basically, there are two scenarios:
1) Code 17 (Hex code 23):
Engine did not reach operating temperature within
acceptable limits (cold too long; thermostat)
2) Code 17 (Hex code 80):
Engine does not reach 50 degrees (C) within 5
minutes with a vehicle speed signal. (closed
loop temp not reached)
Number 2 certainly shouldn't happen with a 180 degree
thermostat; I believe 50 degrees C is only 122
degrees F, way below 180. Number 1 might happen,
I suppose with a really cool thermostat; I'm not
sure what the operating temperature is, but I
think its about 180 degrees. (though there are
people on the list running 160 degree thermostats
with no problems whatsoever.)
In either of the two above cases, the "check engine"
light WILL come on, so you'll know right away if there is a
problem; there's no guesswork involved.
Changing the thermostat to eliminate minor pinging is
certainly a valid thing to do. Other (more expensive)
options are to run a higher octane fuel and/or add headers.
I hope this helps; if you have any other questions feel
free to ask; I'm sure either myself or others on the list
can clear this up!
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ------------------------------------.
| DoD# 1038, EAA# 518210, NMA# 117376, USUA# A46209, RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT CC (15.34@89.10), '96 Kolb FireFly 447 |
`----------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:08:49 EDT