I just saw a decent deal for those of you interested in changing over to a 180 degree tstat. Starting bid is $20 and the Buy It Now is only $39. Not a bad deal for a new OEM tstat...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151121771044...84.m1555.l2649

 

Also interesting...there is an aftermarket grey one now too.

Parts Master Motorad 43980 Engine Coolant Thermostat | eBay

 

Not sure what people have against the Motorad t/stat, I know tons of people running them, both the grey and the newer white version, including myself and have not seen a real problem with that.
I am more concerned about this quote OEM 180 t/stat cause when I was a service manager with Rover, Rover never offered one.

 

+1 on motorad. mine works like its supposed to. i read reviews of sticking/not opening as soon as they should, but no issues here.

 

Mike, you never saw one because they weren't available through your parts department in LRNA.

People don't like the motorad because so many have failed even before installation, vs. the genuine one that hasn't had any reported failures.

 

I--for one--had difficulties with the Motorad unit causing overheating problems. I ended up going to the inline MOD and haven't looked back. If a LR specific 180 tstat had been available I would have given it a try.

 

I run one in my 99 and it does its job and works well......for the time being atleast.

That being said I would NEVER recommend one, due to the first THREE motorads I ordered either failed to open or would not fully open. I know this because I placed each in a pot of water and measured my temps with a thermometer after the first one almost caused me to over heat. (Just wanted to clarify it wasn't due to not being installed properly)

Maybe motorad produced a large number of bad ones and naturally as with anything you hear more bad reviews than good. But when you order from 3 different suppliers and 75% of them are bad it's hard to possibly put others through the same headache.

The only reason I am running the one I am now is because I gave up on motorad and actually ordered what I thought was the grey one from BPofU and I was sent another motorad.(probably my mistake) Was tempted to return it but after spending so long to get one that actually performed correctly I want to see how long it will last.

Like Willrok I went inline on my 04. Even though there are "better" oem style 180 stats now, I will always recommend going the inline route.

 

That is why the new Motorad units are white instead of grey.

 

I have never used a grey motorad.

All the ones I purchased (all are what I would call white) have been bought within the past year. Yes they could have been old stock from whenever, but that's why I purchased from multiple places. I had read at one time a couple places that people had purchased faulty ones from.

Was there different shades of white? I'm not trying to start a huge debate I just don't want to turn people away from something if they have been in fact corrected.

 

re: old stock from whenever - you don't really think they brought them back from distribution warehouses around the globe and put them in the shredder? More likely an inside sales weasel made somebody a great "deal" on a blowout price.

re: if they have been in fact corrected. - wanna bet your engine on it? You can get the real Rover one for about $60. About $38 for MotoRad. $22 won't even fill up the gas tank. And dang sure won't cover head gaskets.