Can anyone with an inline thermostat attest to lower temps vs stock 180 thermostat?

 

Here in my neck of the woods the guys I know with them are running the same temps as me with just the 180F stock form thermostat. It really comes down to the radiator condition, fan clutch, how your front bumper config is (stock, or say an ARB with a winch/lights), then your speed, and if you are in town or not.

They just brag how quick it is to swap thermostats vs the OEM setup, and to me that’s not a reason to switch as I have no issues removing or installing the OEM style.

 

Hi.
The thermostat, inline or bypass type does not change, reduce nor increase the temperature of the coolant after has changed state to normal running conditions.

When engine coolant reaches 'normal' running conditions (say above 180F), the inline type thermostat is fully open and directs all the flow towards the radiator, doing nothing, it is open and does not change from that condition.
When engine coolant reaches 'normal' running conditions, (say above 180F), the bypass type thermostat is fully open to radiator and fully closed to return loop, doing nothing, it is open and does not change from that condition.

Temperature of the coolant would have to decrease under the thermostat rating for any flow to change. That is likely only after a couple of hours parked.
The thermostat does absolutely nothing at normal running conditions.

I do have a 180F inline thermostat because I do not want the risk of hot coolant to flow back into the block if gets stuck and for system simplicity. There is no bypass route in my vehicle, was eliminated looong ago.
Engine block----->in-line thermostat-----> radiator-----> pump suction-----> engine block

Edited, added: image used at post #4 at thread ----> https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...uestion-92974/
belongs to my vehicle, as currently runs.

When I was running without thermostat, with non-collapsible solid pipe at bottom and direct to radiator top:
----> https://s588.photobucket.com/user/In...00962.jpg.html

 

i agree with this but this assumes the cooling system cannot cool under said 180 degrees. The thermostats job in any system is to prevent overcooling not overheating. In my personal D2 my cooling system if left opened can cool easily down to 155-160 on the highway. I have a 170 thermostat with only one hole drilled in and I run at 163-175 all day long. In heavy wheeling scenarios I will climb to 180. I know many say it’s to cold for normal operating range but mine vehicle enters open and closed loops normally as they should. Now mind you I understand that this might not be the best for gas mileage but I hated always being worried of how hot they run when doing heavy wheeling. I’m no cooling expert but this has been my experience since I began laying with this car.

 

Love my setup

Basically the parts that Sixpack mentioned.

Around 188 most of the time, temps in winter about 10 cooler, summer as high 215 on a face melting hot day with AC on.

 

That looks exactly like my setup. I prefer the thermostat housing dead center in the fan shroud.

 

I'm in the camp of Best4x4 on this one. I've had zero issues with the 180°F stock stat setup and cruise at 188.6°F all day long according to the UltraGauge, sometimes lower; 194-196°F at stoplights.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the inline setup; I've just never seen any reason to do it. The Rover gives me plenty to do without creating work for no gain.

 

Yep the temps I get year round match up with all the guys I know in TX with the inline setup. I'm in the 182-215F range year round depending on the season on 3 D2's. It's more about airflow, the temp outside (heat off of the road/concrete for example) vs the thermostat. A 180F thermostat is a 180F thermostat. With the 180F OEM thermostat vs the OEM 190/195F thermostat our LR's are MUCH MUCH better off. Heck when I owned my 97 D1 and 2 03 D2's back in the day I just went by the gauge. Ultragauges and Scangauge II's were totally unheard of back then! I hate to imagine the temps my 03's were running when I was out on the trails for hours without ever turning it off. Both my 03's got well past 189K on the original HG's. Only real issues I had with either one of them were Purge Control Valves, and spark plug wires getting brittle.

So if the most I see with the HVAC on is 215F and it then goes down I'm not worried at all. I've had my Scangauge II long enough to know my D2's. The temps will always slowly climb, reach a point, then slowly creep down, and then eventually repeat the cycle on a long road trip. I've noticed 65MPH seems to be my threshold of where I can cruise no problem fully loaded with an ARB/Winch/Aux Lights/Hi Lift. That's the 188-204F range, and if I increase the speed to say 70-75MPH I can get into the 206-209F area, but it will climb and then slowly fall once the cooling system catches back up. We really need a 4core radiator on our D2's. Now if I was to do all the above with the AC off I'd be 188-193F all day long, but in SETX with the humidity AC full blast is an absolute must!

 

Thanks for all the input everyone. I think I am going to stick with a 180 Genuine Stat for now.