Drilling stock thermo..pic and ?

[skaarew04SVT]

Just drained the coolant from the snake, figured i would pop out the thermostat and drill a few holes in the stock 180F. Was thinking about drilling 4 holes, guessing 1/8" each. take a look at the pic, is this the correct location? logic tells me yes, just wanted to verify with those of you who have done this....thanks :beer:

 

[COBRATT46]

Fairly new to the Terminator. What would be the benifit of drilling holes???? Logic tells me you would be letting hot coolant back in to enigne block.

 

[black 10th vert]

you only need one hole (1/8") drilled in that area with the arrows. It needs to be installed with the hole up at the 12 o'clock position. It just allows air to escape, making burping of the cooling system easier. If you drill 4 holes, there is no point to even having a thermostat at all, since there will be too much by-pass.

 

[skaarew04SVT]

you only need one hole (1/8") drilled in that area with the arrows. It needs to be installed with the hole up at the 12 o'clock position. It just allows air to escape, making burping of the cooling system easier. If you drill 4 holes, there is no point to even having a thermostat at all, since there will be too much by-pass.

There is much more of a reason to drill the thermo then just to make purging easier! I am on a quest to lower temps without changing thermostats, and have read many threads (on top of being told by my tuner) that 3 or 4 holes drilled will allow for lower cruising temps.

of course there is a benefit for easier purging as well!

many here have drilled numerous holes, just wanted to verify the locations of these holes before i screw up a perfectly good tstat

 

[skaarew04SVT]

also performed the boiling test in my kitchen on this stock 180F thermo.....it is for sure a slow opener, doesnt completely open till around 212 or so. unlike an aftermarket 180, that opens much much more quickly.....another reason to drill her a bit.

and to answer the other question in post # 2.....it lets more COOLed coolant into the block, ....for better cooling

 

[01cobravortech]

Here's where I drilled mine:

Several open trackers over on ModularFords have gone with (3) 1/8 holes. Has worked without issue.

 

[skaarew04SVT]

thanks bro....looks like i am on the right track

 

[01cobravortech]

Fairly new to the Terminator. What would be the benifit of drilling holes???? Logic tells me you would be letting hot coolant back in to enigne block.

It has been established over the past 5 years that the OEM 180F t-stat doesn't fully open until the temp hits 219F. Drilling at least 3 holes insures it opens at 180F, but even more so makes bleeding air out of the system even that much easier. This is old news.

 

[COBRATT46]

It has been established over the past 5 years that the OEM 180F t-stat doesn't fully open until the temp hits 219F. Drilling at least 3 holes insures it opens at 180F, but even more so makes bleeding air out of the system even that much easier. This is old news.

Thx for the info.

 

[Kevin the Clean 1]

It has been established over the past 5 years that the OEM 180F t-stat doesn't fully open until the temp hits 219F. Drilling at least 3 holes insures it opens at 180F, but even more so makes bleeding air out of the system even that much easier. This is old news.

Are you serious... ? :uh oh: Thanks again FORD. A pretty hot thermostat & no cooling passages for the backside of the drivers sides heads. Anything else I should know about fellas ??? :shrug:

 

[black 10th vert]

also performed the boiling test in my kitchen on this stock 180F thermo.....it is for sure a slow opener, doesnt completely open till around 212 or so. unlike an aftermarket 180, that opens much much more quickly.....another reason to drill her a bit.

and to answer the other question in post # 2.....it lets more COOLed coolant into the block, ....for better cooling

Why not just start with a new 180 if it opens closer to actual temp? They are only like $4, or so! It is so much work to change it, I would never re-use an old one!

 

[AaronK]

I am on a quest to lower temps without changing thermostats

Just leave it out then :shrug:

 

[GodStang]

Why not switch to a 160??? that what I did.

 

[AaronK]

Why not switch to a 160??? that what I did.

Does that 160 work well? I can't see why it wouldn't but just double checking before I get one.

 

[M240Bravo]

I'm not getting the point of this.

Why and why.

 

[03 DSG Snake]

Wouldn't an aftermarket setup work better?

 

[04sleeper]

You know what I am using and how it works. Datalogging doesn't lie! :thumbsup:

I am curious on what your fan settings are as well. You need to get me that tune so I can look it over.

 

[GodStang]

Does that 160 work well? I can't see why it wouldn't but just double checking before I get one.

Came with my kenne bell so I installed it. Seems to work fine.

 

[SVTkel]

I did 3 in mine. Although I went slightly smaller than 1/8". You have the right spot.

 

[PistolWhip]

I had a 170 in my vert, but I can't seem to find one anymore. Its either 160 or 180 as far as I can find right now.
I would think that an aftermarket 180 with a hole or two drilled in it should do the same things as a 170 though.