180 thermostat... Good in all weather?
 

This is probably a stupid question, but now that it's pretty unanimous and most Bonneville owners recommend switching to a 180 thermostat, I just want to know if that's okay even when the colder seasons and brutal winters come around? I know years ago people would switch their T-stats according to climate and seasonal conditions.

Here in NJ we can get some pretty extreme winter conditions and would like to know if a 180 T-stat is still acceptable in extreme spring/summer/ winter/fall conditions?

a 180 will be fine for all year round in almost all climates (or at least the climates that you could drive a Bonneville in). The car will still warm up the same as a normal 195 t-stat. The only difference is that the ideal operating temp for the car is 15 degrees lower. Unless you get to -50 on a regualar basis it will work just fine.

I've had mine in for most of this winter in Minnesota and I never had a single problem with it. IF you threw in a 160 you might run into some SES light due to low engine operating tempature, but a 180 won't do that.

Up here in Edmonton, Canada, it gets pretty damn cold in the winter! I run a 180 stat during the warmer season & then switch back too the stock 195 for the winter months.

Anthony, what do you mean by brutal weather?
Listen to the boys from the great white North.
I doubt if New Jersey has ever seen steady temps at -20 or -30 for days and even weeks at a time, which Minnesota or Edmonton get every winter . Believe me, I grew up in it, and that's brutal. If you're talking about 25 degrees above and 2 feet of snow, that's not brutal.
Try going for 2-3 weeks straight with a daytime high of -25 like Minnesota or Edmonton gets. That's brutal.
If those guys don't have a problem with a 180 Tstat up there, you're not going to have a problem with a 180 Tstat in Joisey.

AMEN TO THAT! :lol:

I didn't mean to jump on Anthony, I guess what's brutal is a matter of a guy's perspective.
But it's reassuring to know you Canooks up there can run the 180 tstat with no problems. I tried running a cooler Tstat on an '89 Plymouth Voyager once, and about got frostbite on my toes when the temp got below 0.
GM products have always had good heaters.

Don't mean to be rude either.. but it seems like you had a failsafe Tstat that failed.. and therefore had the Tstat open thus not allowing the car to warm up.. or possibly a clog cooling system?

COLD WEATHER
 

No problem about questioning my personal perspective on what brutal winters might be like. I realie my remarks may have seemed odd or laughable to some peole. But I grew up and lived in Alaska for almost seven years and I can probably give lessons on cold weather considering there where times when we hardly saw daylight for days during the Alaskan winter months. Just SNOW, WIND, COLDNESS, and DARKNESS morning , noon, and night for what seemed like eternity during winter.

I think we used a 195 thermostat in our burgundy '76 Bonneville Brougham sedan with a big 455 engine and the car never had one major cooling or heating problem (even with 180,500 miles on the original engine) by the way. I recall my father using an antifreeze during the early '80s that was even orange colored years before Dex-Cool ever came about, but can't recall the brand.

We had neighbors who would actually leave during winter just to get away from the cold Alaskan climate by visiting relatives or friends "where it was warmer" like Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Canada - which I never understood. I moved back to my native NJ for the different changing seasons, and THE SHORE, but some of the winters here in the NJ/NY metro area have indeed been brutal to a large degree by mid-atlantic state standards. Never saw New York harbor or Sandy Hook Bay freeze up before until this year. Regardless of what freezes over, whether it be the harbor, the bay, or hell itself...I AIN'T EVER GOING BACK TO ALASKA FOR NOTHIN'!!!!!

sorry about the typos
 

Sorry for any typos I allowed for in my post...Its been a long day for sure! At least I got around to checking out the NEW Bonneville at my ocal dealer.

sorry about the typos
 

Sorry for any typos I allowed for in my last post...Its been a long day for sure! At least I got around to checking out the NEW Bonneville at my local dealer.