The standard Intense PCM does not block this code.
Notice the driving time on Haro'* gauge. That'* the key in cold weather with a drilled stat. Remember that with the holes, it will take longer to warm up.
Buy an E-stat from ZZP for $40 and you will never have to worry about it again and can run a drilled 160 stat all year round.

did you read the lines of text on top of the pictures? it was at 160 the whole way home, and it would have stayed there with continued grandma driving.. but as soon as i gave it the WOT it was up to 180 within minutes

Two 1/8" holes in that 180 are quite large. They will pass enough coolant to lower your no load temp but as soon as you load up the engine and start producing heat, the stat will open more than the effect of the two holes and maintain 180.

I was refering to why the SES light was being thrown for failure to reach operating temp.

basically.. am i good to go as is? or should i get another 180 with smaller holes?

Before I installed the E-stat, I had to switch between my undrilled 180 for temps less than 55 and the 4 holed 180 stat for summer months.
For a while I simply cleared the code every few days with my scan tool.

i have no problems clearing the code.. i had it cleared within 10 seconds when it popped up while driving with the aeroforce.. i just want to make sure its ok to be running as is

No problem. Like I said, I run all the time with my drilled 160 stat, so with the PCM thinking I have a 180 stat, it runs the fans on low speed all the time. It never goes much over 160 anytime.

Thanks for the pics haro. I appreciate it!

you want more? i took pics throughout the entire swap

Maybe the club would benfit from a picture tutorial being as summer and thermostat changing weather is approaching fast.