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caryt
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Without the expense of custom tunes etc?
Jrgunn5150
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Every single internal combustion engine ever runs better and more efficiently when it's hotter.
It's not 1991, putting some silly cool 160 degree t stat in your TBI Camaro so the PCM dumps fuel isn't a power gain today, it's just wasting money.
It's not 1991, putting some silly cool 160 degree t stat in your TBI Camaro so the PCM dumps fuel isn't a power gain today, it's just wasting money.
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Jrgunn5150
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They still run better hotter.
rharr
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Run better or last longer, What's better?
If you are always at the edge of best running temp and over heat, what's the point of running good if you can't get it to do sustained work?
The added heat I would think is just harder on everything from lubricant to plastic engine parts, rubber gaskets and aluminum cylinder heads.
If you are always at the edge of best running temp and over heat, what's the point of running good if you can't get it to do sustained work?
The added heat I would think is just harder on everything from lubricant to plastic engine parts, rubber gaskets and aluminum cylinder heads.
Jrgunn5150
Well-Known Member
It's Friday, I'm bored, so I'll indulge for a bit.
A lot of feelings here, not so much facts... The same kind of emotional reasoning that leads people to replace parts that are working fine because they might could maybe fail one day.
An engine running near the upper end of its intended operating-temperature range is not the same thing as an engine overheating. Wear is much more about whether the engine is operating within its engineered temperature, oil-pressure, and detonation limits.
In fact, running an engine too cool can also increase wear because the oil stays thicker, fuel doesn’t vaporize as well, condensation and fuel dilution can remain in the crankcase, and clearances may not reach their intended operating dimensions.
The key distinction is controlled temperature vs. uncontrolled temperature. If coolant temperature is stable at, say, 215–225°F because the cooling system and calibration were designed for it, that doesn’t automatically mean the head gaskets, plastics, seals, oil, or aluminum heads are being damaged. Those components are selected around those operating temperatures.
Where the argument becomes valid is when the engine has little thermal margin. If towing, idling, climbing a hill, or a hot day regularly pushes it beyond the normal range, then yes—that repeated excessive heat can accelerate oil oxidation, harden seals, increase knock tendency, raise transmission temperatures, and eventually distort or damage components.
A lot of feelings here, not so much facts... The same kind of emotional reasoning that leads people to replace parts that are working fine because they might could maybe fail one day.
An engine running near the upper end of its intended operating-temperature range is not the same thing as an engine overheating. Wear is much more about whether the engine is operating within its engineered temperature, oil-pressure, and detonation limits.
In fact, running an engine too cool can also increase wear because the oil stays thicker, fuel doesn’t vaporize as well, condensation and fuel dilution can remain in the crankcase, and clearances may not reach their intended operating dimensions.
The key distinction is controlled temperature vs. uncontrolled temperature. If coolant temperature is stable at, say, 215–225°F because the cooling system and calibration were designed for it, that doesn’t automatically mean the head gaskets, plastics, seals, oil, or aluminum heads are being damaged. Those components are selected around those operating temperatures.
Where the argument becomes valid is when the engine has little thermal margin. If towing, idling, climbing a hill, or a hot day regularly pushes it beyond the normal range, then yes—that repeated excessive heat can accelerate oil oxidation, harden seals, increase knock tendency, raise transmission temperatures, and eventually distort or damage components.
ChrisNLA
Well-Known Member
My mothers 2006 Chevrolet Equinox has a 195* OE thermostat.
And she's overheated it twice (that I was made aware of).
257,000 miles on the original, unopened, motor and transmission.
Completely unscientific. But since we're dwelling on thermostat temps.
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