The new 180 thermostat seems to have worked. My truck is running about 10 degrees cooler on average. I will keep an eye on the temp with the DashCMD app, but I think this worked!!! Thank you all for the recommendations of using the thermostat. It is amazing that a more expensive after market part that claimed to be 180 degrees did not work.

 

Congrats!

THat is often the case, but I still get the cheap stuff anyway. HAHA

 

Charlie, does that mean you are using the Motorad Tstat? That's what I have since it was the only item available,locally, when I did my last cooling system upgrade. I'm sure the LR gray would get my temps a few degrees lower but this cheapo is close to spec

 

No, I did the inline thermostat mod so I am using a ten dollar Chevy thermostat. I'm also using the cheapie MAF (amazon, 40 bucks... has worked fine for almost two years), allmakes window regulator, etc. But the one thing that I would always buy OEM is the thermostat, and I would get the soft spring gray one I linked earlier in this thread. I'm obviously NOT a purist but I have replaced my own head gaskets twice and the second round, I am pretty sure, was due to a stuck Motorad thermostat (with the stock hose setup... prior to the inline mod). Everyone says the Motorad thermostats are junk and I don't believe that, but I got a bad one and the fix is no fun. For similar reasons I won't eat take out chicken, but that's another story.

 

I trust Rovers North took care of you and was very friendly? In any case we may never know exactly why your temps were at their previous level. Assuming you replaced the thermostat with the grey 180 TD5 and assuming that while you were swapping them out you also did a good bleed on the cooling system. The high temps could have indeed been the thermostat and they could have been the cause of air in the cooling system. Either way test out the cooling system. Warm up the truck, take her for a good long drive through city traffic then turn the AC on full blast and idle the truck for a little while and WATCH THOSE ENGINE TEMPS LIKE A HAWK! If your cooling system is in good shape now and there are no other issues than with your new thermostat you should be getting around 197-205 under the above circumstances and around 188 on the highway.

Good luck and Im happy its working out for you so far. Keep us posted.