160 thermostat no heat

[GNICETRY]

You have limited options here. Either you are low on coolant, you are getting no vacuum, your heater valve isn't working or your heater core is clogged. It seems that you are down to the heater core being blocked. Check the inexpensive things first. The heater core is a pain in the a$$ to change and a factory original is a little difficult to find.

 

[turbofrank]

I have never had a problem with heat and 160 thermostat in Va

 

[Silver Fox]

Thermostat could be stuck open.

 

[forzfed]

When you put the heat on can you hear the vent door closing? On one of my old Regals I had to manually close it to get heat.

 

[jlat]

It might help to install a 195 degree thermostat. I'm in Ohio and i run a 195 stat. in the winter and a 160 stat. the rest of the time when the heaters not needed. The car is not a daily driver but i do drive it sometimes during the winter and i like to have heat when i do.

hello; What are the choices for stats for our cars? I think theres only 2?
IBBY

 

[whitehot1]

hello; What are the choices for stats for our cars? I think theres only 2?
IBBY

I have 3 here that i use,they range from 160,180,195.

 

[jlat]

I have 3 here that i use,they range from 160,180,195.

hello; Is that 180 easily found? I know this is old talk and I don't know what the ideal temp. is for a street car. The TB came thru with a 195 and that car was fast and ran great. Now fast forward to now and it seems the temp. people talk about is with a 160 stat. Unless everything is write you keep looking at your scanmaster worrying about the temp varying. I might go to that 180 and get TT to reprogram the 5.6. I'll bet the coolant temp would stay more constant and maybe the car would run better as it was designed to run at at higher temp. This would be for a car like mine that is 100% street with some upgrades.
IBBY

 

[trixdout]

Yea my car same thing. With the 160 thermo the heater works perfectly fine Nd kept me cozy in the 25 degree Fahrenheit weather here in jersey.

Sent from my iPhone using Turbo Buick

 

[whitehot1]

hello; Is that 180 easily found? I know this is old talk and I don't know what the ideal temp. is for a street car. The TB came thru with a 195 and that car was fast and ran great. Now fast forward to now and it seems the temp. people talk about is with a 160 stat. Unless everything is write you keep looking at your scanmaster worrying about the temp varying. I might go to that 180 and get TT to reprogram the 5.6. I'll bet the coolant temp would stay more constant and maybe the car would run better as it was designed to run at at higher temp. This would be for a car like mine that is 100% street with some upgrades.
IBBY

I got the 180 stat from autozone but that was a long time ago. It looks like they still carry it in their stores here is a link.I have an adjustable fan control switch so it makes it easy to set it for the thermostat i use

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...9pd73?itemIdentifier=139167_413832_1632_93207

 

[Steve V]

Grab the heater hoses are they hot? Is one hot and on not? 160 stat will give heat. My T does not give very good heat, wife tells me everytime she drives it . I drive it and it is fine I suspect the heater core since eevrything else is new.

 

[king kong]

Thermostat could be stuck open.

x2 re-check coolant lever with car RUNNING and put in a NEW Thermostat

 

[TurboBuRick]

so you say normally open with vacuum right? so once i remove the line, like i did, shouldnt i had seen the valve arm move? I didnt see it move. I might just try the one from Autozone and see what happens.
Also which of the A/C controls shuts the vacuum to the valve, is the the mode selector or the temp selector?

Normally open means without vacuum. The spring parks the valve open.

When the heat selector is on cold, the system applies vacuum and closes the valve. When the selector is moved to hot, the system removes vacuum and the spring pulls the valve open.

Again, if the spring is broke, no heat. Move the valve arm and wire it open.

 

[1KWIKSIX]

hello; Is that 180 easily found? I know this is old talk and I don't know what the ideal temp. is for a street car. The TB came thru with a 195 and that car was fast and ran great. Now fast forward to now and it seems the temp. people talk about is with a 160 stat. Unless everything is write you keep looking at your scanmaster worrying about the temp varying. I might go to that 180 and get TT to reprogram the 5.6. I'll bet the coolant temp would stay more constant and maybe the car would run better as it was designed to run at at higher temp. This would be for a car like mine that is 100% street with some upgrades.
IBBY

I got my 180deg T-stat from Glenn at NOS4GN (Highway Stars). Was having issues with 160deg stats keeping my car too cool as well.
I adjusted the fan on / off set points to the chip and is now much better. However, I have a 170deg T stat for a small block chevy (but it's much larger OD), so I'm going to try to have it machined (trimmed down) so it will fit in the Buicks' T-stat housing in the manifold. I personally think that this will be just about perfect for my street driven car.
Will let you know how it works out.

dave

 

[GNICETRY]

I got my 180deg T-stat from Glenn at NOS4GN (Highway Stars). Was having issues with 160deg stats keeping my car too cool as well.
I adjusted the fan on / off set points to the chip and is now much better. However, I have a 170deg T stat for a small block chevy (but it's much larger OD), so I'm going to try to have it machined (trimmed down) so it will fit in the Buicks' T-stat housing in the manifold. I personally think that this will be just about perfect for my street driven car.
Will let you know how it works out. dave

I agree 100%. I was having an issue with my 160 running too cool. I bought another one from Kirban and still have the issue. I do have an extensively upgraded cooling system though. There is ALOT of discussion about 160 vs 180 thermostats and engine wear. I also agree 170 would be perfect for a street car. I would have Eric program the fan to cut on at about 180. What size diameter is our housing?

 

[1KWIKSIX]

I agree 100%. I was having an issue with my 160 running too cool. I bought another one from Kirban and still have the issue. I do have an extensively upgraded cooling system though. There is ALOT of discussion about 160 vs 180 thermostats and engine wear. I also agree 170 would be perfect for a street car. I would have Eric program the fan to cut on at about 180. What size diameter is our housing?

I've measured the OD of my 160deg T-stat that I removed and it's 1.7" OD, which would be the same size req'd for any thermostat to fit properly in our cars.
The 170deg T-stat for small block Chevy is 2.125" OD, so it needs to be trimmed to fit for our cars.

When I changed over to the 180deg T-stat, I altered my fan on from 175deg F to 187deg F and left the fan off at 170deg.

Once I install the 170deg T-stat think I'll leave the fan on at 187deg F, but alter the fan off to 175deg F.

On a side note: Meziere offers an in line Aluminum Hi Flo Thermostat housing (1 1/4" hose x 1 1/4" hose) that installs in your upper rad hose (Meziere Part #WN0071) You could simply remove your old thermostat from the manifold and install this in line T-stat housing in rad hose , drop in the Chevy 170deg T-stat and voila.....you'd be able to use the larger Chevy T-stat (which is readily available) & it would be a drop in (no modifactions) installation & would make any future T-stat changes a breeze!

dave