What are peoples thoughs on running low opening thermostats for summer towing? Have lately been swapping between 2 sets of thermostats, winter ones run between 185-195 and the ones I run in the summer run at 170. That's just running down the road. Main reason I am doing it is to attempt to drop underwood temp, which seems to work, but if you hit a hill with a lower start temp, you should be able to go longer before hit that high temp mark. Granted at the end of the day once you hear soak the cooling system, the radiator can only get rid of a X amount of BTU's of heat.
I run the lower temp mishimoto's year round. I started running them a few years back when I was attempting the same fix. It helps a little as when the temps start to rise, the fan kicks in a little bit sooner and you can milk it a little longer. As James mentioned, these cooling systems are already taxed so they need some additional support.
Not since I did a few years ago, but I just can't see it being plugged. There is virtually no bugs in the intercooler. Truck is always stored inside. I've only put probably 5k on it in the last 5 years.
Last year APRIL I installed my compound turbo kit. Shortly thereafter, I needed to upgrade intercoolers and so I removed the entire stack to do so. I was shocked how much was between the rad and intercooler. It's not visible from the outside. there's a bit of a low pressure area at the center of the cooling fan that collects the most debris/dirt/dust. I washed the entire stack out and re-assembled. During my build this year, I decided to put in a new radiator because I was there. I was again shocked at the debris between the two. Not nearly as bad as the first time, but definitely enough to impact performance. I'm going to make it a yearly maintenance item if I continue to tow the way I do. It's worth a shot. I live in NV and we don't see a lot of humidity but the dust/dirt/light debris from the road are regular.
ive never took the time to look into EXACTLY what makes them tick.
this is why i eventually went to a solid hub on my fan and id just switch it between summer and winter months. No worries about fan clutch then and a/c worked better at low speed.you just never got a break from the fan noise but it honestly never shut off when towing anyhow.
The fan clutches use a mechanically actuated spring (think old thermostat in your house attached to a mercury switch). As the heat transfers through the stack, the spring deforms which actuates the clutch and locks in the fan. I believe the fan is engaged "cold" and the spring opens up to an "operating range" which the fan is in roughly free spin (its actually engaged but at a much lower %). As temps rise, the spring deforms, engages the clutch and you should then have nearly 1-1 rotation of fan clutch to fan. As the clutch wears out, the fan will slip and start falling away from the 1-1 AND moves more toward free spin during the normal operating range. This can contribute to the high pressure side on the AC system going out of tolerance and having issues there, not to mention difficulty maintaining normal temps.
