Quote:
Originally Posted by airdale94
I run a 180 in mine and it gets plenty hot in Kansas. I would think a 160 would be plenty for LA. If your temp. climbs while idle it sounds like you have a cooling issue. Either your fan or radiator flow. It sounds like a flow problem if your heater isn't heating up. Your radiator and heater core might be resticted. Your thermostat might also be the problem. I like to run the Hypertech PowerStats. They have a more controlled flow. They will open in incremental ammounts, where others are either opened or closed.
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I have to agree with this. I ran a 160° T-stat for years and drove the truck in weather down to about freezing. I never had a problem with lack of heat. If you have all those weatherstripping problems, solve those first. Then see if the heater is keeping up with the need. If not, here's a small laundry list of stuff you might already know:
1) Check the heater system thoroughly and make sure the doors are opening all the way. There are 3: 1) main airflow 2) controls how much heat and 3) defrost of floorboard control.
2) Make sure the heater box isn't full of leaves. If you're not getting the air flow you need, you'll never get warm.
3) Make sure your fan is getting to the 3rd position. Once I fixed my switch, it blew like a 10 cent whore on Nickel Night.
4) This time of year, that thing should sit at 160° all day, even in traffic. I'd have your system tested to see what's plugged. Someday, it'll be hot again. You'll want to catch this before it gets worse.
5) Guys, you're going to contradict me, but I DARE you to tell the diffference in power or driveability between running a 160° and a 195° T-stat. Unless you're running a super high output motor, you won't tell a difference! Mine had a 195° in it when I rebuilt it with 10.0:1 heads, lopey cam, and copious amounts of advance. I dropped in a 160 when I had the radiator gone through and never felt a difference.