Can I totally remove my thermostat to keep the car running cool. I know it will prevent heat.

just a few questions come to mind. is the car overheating? in hot weather mine will run a higher temp causing the fans to come on more. in cool weather it stays at the temp of the stat i have installed. are all the airways cleaned allowing the air to flow correctly thru the radiator? have to make sure you dont have a lot of leaves and such blocking the flow of air. be sure to check in between the a/c condenser and radiator as a lot of stuff can collect in there.

another thing is the cooling system itself. is it clogged at all and have you ever flushed it? a lot of sediment can form in the radiator restricting the flow. as far as i know drilling a hole in the stat plte is to help with getting all the air out of the system.

if you want to run it at a lower temp you would need to get the fans reprogrammed to come on at a lower temp besides replacing the stat.


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the dynamic duo

c3vr life member #97

The stock LT1 stat is 180*---the cooling fans are controlled by the PCM and come on low speed at around 218-220* and high speed at 228*---so by factory design these cars run much hotter than most "new" C4 owners are used to seeing. I'm old school and by old school standards  that is HOT but once again it's by design (lower emissions)

As eddie20890 said be sure the radiator is clean inside and out--- the air intake is close to the road and will suck up debri and block air flow across the condenser and radiator fins. If the cooling system is in good shape and you can't stand the above temp specs ( I could not)---then as was also stated in the above post the PCM can be programmed to turn on the fans at a lower temp.

A 160* stat or removing the stat (don't do that) will not lower operating temps in the summer heat--- reprograming the PCM will---I have the stock stat and the PCM reprogramed and run around 190* in the summer (with or w/out AC) and 183-184* in the winter.

96LT12010-06-02 02:52:17

 Thanks to all, good advice, will go the re-program route.

  Who can re-program the temp.  Professionals only??

Since yours is OBD 2--- companies such as Hypertech sell reprogramers which change fan on temp-and if you have auto tranny--- change shift points and shift firmness--also can change ign, timing. 96LT12010-06-02 16:24:12

Johnny, the purpose of drilling the 2 small holes in the thermostate flang is aid in removing the air pockets that get trapped in the system especially when draining and flushing the cooling system. It shouldn't be considered a means of fixing an overheating problem. Last year, I needed to replace the intake gaskets and fuel injectors on my '89. While I had everything apart, I replaced other parts like the fuel regulator, thermostate, etc. Before installing the new thermostate, I drilled the 2 holes and found it ran a little cooler but it is because there is more cooling fluid and less air trapped inside the passageways. Hope all the members input helps you solve the problem.

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