As the title says, I have a question that relates to getting MORE heat in my engine for the very cold weather we are experiencing this year in the mid west. Typically everyone asks the secrets to have their car run as cool as possible. Not this time.
My WE4 is my daily driver, rain, snow, ice, whatever. We have been in the teens here for a while, and suppose to have sub zero temps later this week. Cars cooling system is stock rad, dual fans, 160 stat. Fans are controlled by the ECM. Going down the highway Im seeing 153 - 157 degrees on the scanmaster. Needless to say the heat sucks. I need more heat because it looks like the cold weather is here to stay.
I changed the thermostat today to a 180*, I almost did a 195* but decided against it. I refilled the coolant, and let it burp. As the car warmed up I monitored the temp. Fans came on as they usually do at 162. Temp climbed to maybe 168 and it felt like the thermostat had already opened up? I know there is some variance in thermostat opening temp but I figured it would climb higher than that. So, I unplugged the fans and was running the car about 1500 rpms. It very slowly climbed up to mid 170's with the heater on full blast for about 5 minutes or so, then climbed again up to 182-185 before shutting it down and I had to go work on something else.
I guess my real question is since the fans are coming on at 162, they will pretty much be running all the time. Would there be a benefit to cut out one of the fans to help the car warm up to temp and stay there? Less wear and tear on my fans for winter time only? Is there a benefit to which fan I cut out? Or is the best bet to have Eric Marshall burn me a "winter chip" that turns my fans on at 182*?
Thanks for ready, any input would be great. Just trying to stay warm in my Buick when its ZERO OUTSIDE!
My WE4 is my daily driver, rain, snow, ice, whatever. We have been in the teens here for a while, and suppose to have sub zero temps later this week. Cars cooling system is stock rad, dual fans, 160 stat. Fans are controlled by the ECM. Going down the highway Im seeing 153 - 157 degrees on the scanmaster. Needless to say the heat sucks. I need more heat because it looks like the cold weather is here to stay.
I changed the thermostat today to a 180*, I almost did a 195* but decided against it. I refilled the coolant, and let it burp. As the car warmed up I monitored the temp. Fans came on as they usually do at 162. Temp climbed to maybe 168 and it felt like the thermostat had already opened up? I know there is some variance in thermostat opening temp but I figured it would climb higher than that. So, I unplugged the fans and was running the car about 1500 rpms. It very slowly climbed up to mid 170's with the heater on full blast for about 5 minutes or so, then climbed again up to 182-185 before shutting it down and I had to go work on something else.
I guess my real question is since the fans are coming on at 162, they will pretty much be running all the time. Would there be a benefit to cut out one of the fans to help the car warm up to temp and stay there? Less wear and tear on my fans for winter time only? Is there a benefit to which fan I cut out? Or is the best bet to have Eric Marshall burn me a "winter chip" that turns my fans on at 182*?
Thanks for ready, any input would be great. Just trying to stay warm in my Buick when its ZERO OUTSIDE!
