The way I read this thread...I must have gotten the unicorn of T stats as my 180 actually works or rather keeps the truck at 183 under load. My worry...is that in the winter time I am going to freeze in the cabin because the heater core is not hot enough!

 

I have noticed 03-04 D2’s without the oil cooler do run slightly cooler. However I like cooling my engine oil so I stick with 99-02’s.

 

Agreed, not many people have gauges for oil temp. I find that when going up steep grades, coolant temp remains steady at ~200, but engine oil goes from ~170 to as high as 205 if climbing long enough. I ease off the gas and oil temp drops, while coolant remains steady. Which reminds me, I think I'll swap the oil cooler for a larger tranny cooler. Those buggers are expensive though

Your points on 180 vs 195 stats are all great, but I think the point here is that a Britpart 180 is not the same as a LR 180. Maybe the britpart has a higher flow? I'm installing mine today and doing the TBH delete while I'm at it

 

Jeff- Do report back. Looking forward to the results.

 

You can add an oil cooler and keep the transmission cooler.
I have been considering adding an oil cooler to my 04.
There is room for it in front and below the ac condensor.
CollieRover mounted an oil cooler in the passenger fenderwell with an electric fan.
So it's doable without loosing the transmission cooler, which is worth having, towing or not.

Best4x4, why do your trucks with oil coolers run hotter coolant temps?
I would think the coolant temp would stay the same, and the oil temp drop a couple degrees?
I have to get this thing running first, and lift and steel bumpers is the plan.
So an oil cooler and it's mounting place(with a steel bumper)still has me asking questions.

 

I have both a transmission and oil cooler. They're not in the greatest shape, though. I'm looking into aftermarket options because I want to save a few bucks and replace the soft lines and connectors anyway. I also have the ac condenser deleted so there might be more wiggle room to do something custom.

I'd imagine coolant runs hotter because it has a hot oil cooler sitting in front of the radiator

 

That makes sense.
I think CollieRover's fenderwell/electric fan and an a steel bumper is next for me.

I am thinking about a mesh grill too, after reading here about Kalahari grill trucks supposedly runing a few degrees cooler. If more surface area is exposed, I guess it's possible.
I was really suprised how little the stock plastic grill protects the condensor also.

 

For what its worth, I noticed zero temp difference after deleting the AC condenser, so I'm a bit dubious a mesh grill does anything

 

Well that's disapointing...even though I would never give up ac.
Only other possibility would be that the stock grill is several inches thick, with upward facing crossbars to direct air. Since heat rises, if enough heat cannot escape out of the grill(truck stopped in traffic, idleing anywhere) then maybe, maybe a mesh grill could help.
When I get it running, I'll let it idle in the shade, UltraGage coolant temp settle, then take the stock grill out and see if the temp drops a degree. Possible, but doubtful.
Thanks for the info.

 

Britpart 180 installed

Initial impressions good

203-204 steady idle (down from 206-208)
I also noticed after revving the engine and bringing it down to 186, it takes a lot longer to get back up to 203 than before.

I'll bleed it over the next couple days and hopefully shave off a few degrees. Nothing to write home about yet though