Livernois Evenflo 160 Thermo

[SVO MkII]

I just picked up a Livernois/Evenflo 160 deg t-stat.

1) There is some helpful info here, but I was wondering if anyone was aware of any videos or pics that might be of assistance.
2) I have a lift in my garage and I'm wondering if it would be beneficial to put the car on lift and get to the t-stat from below?
3) It appears the alternator is right under the t-stat. Any concerns about dumping coolant into the alternator openings?

Thanks.

I installed this last night, so I'll answer my own questions;
1. Well, I didn't take any pics or video, no help there.
2. I don't think a lift helps here. You can get at it from above (although it is a bitch!). To get at it from below, you'll need to remove the tray, etc. Probably "6 one one, half dozen the other".
3. I guess there is no harm in coating engine components with coolant. I did!

In summary, this is not what I would consider an "easy" task (and I'm pretty experienced, with a good collection of tools). It's not technically challenging, the problem is the location of the t-stat. Very difficult to get to the hose clamps and the mounting bolts.

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[Vicr]

We were doing t-stat swaps back in the 70's. Guess I'm old.

 

[SVO MkII]

I installed this last night, so I'll answer my own questions;
1. Well, I didn't take any pics or video, no help there.
2. I don't think a lift helps here. You can get at it from above (although it is a bitch!). To get at it from below, you'll need to remove the tray, etc. Probably "6 one one, half dozen the other".
3. I guess there is no harm in coating engine components with coolant. I did!

In summary, this is not what I would consider an "easy" task (and I'm pretty experienced, with a good collection of tools). It's not technically challenging, the problem is the location of the t-stat. Very difficult to get to the hose clamps and the mounting bolts.

Good news is that it does appear to be keeping CHT about 20 deg cooler, at least on the street. This is also having the expected impact on the inferred oil temp. I won't make it to the track again for a few weeks, but hopefully this is enough to keep the ECU from pulling power due to what it "thinks" is excessive oil temp. Fingers crossed!

 

[TeeLew]

We were doing t-stat swaps back in the 70's. Guess I'm old.

I think you might be right, lol!

 

[Black9]

I got the thermostat this weekend and it looks that pulling the intake would be the easiest route, anyone comment? Started by removing the bottom splitter and plastic but, the job looks nearly impossible and pulling the intake looks to be the easiest access?

 

[SVO MkII]

I got the thermostat this weekend and it looks that pulling the intake would be the easiest route, anyone comment? Started by removing the bottom splitter and plastic but, the job looks nearly impossible and pulling the intake looks to be the easiest access?

I just did this a couple weeks ago. The only thing I removed was the air filter box. It is a real bitch to get at the bolts and clamps, but it can be done. I did everything from above. It took me a couple hours. Enjoy!

 

[TeeLew]

Is everyone remapping their engines with the thermostat in place?

 

[SVO MkII]

Is everyone remapping their engines with the thermostat in place?

Remapping what, and why?

 

[TeeLew]

The engine to take advantage of lower CHT & make sure you're not stuck in some type of warm-up mode.

 

[SVO MkII]

The engine to take advantage of lower CHT & make sure you're not stuck in some type of warm-up mode.

My engine warms up fine with the 160 deg t-stat. I didn't install this for any sort of power increase. I only installed this t-stat to hopefully impact the calculated/inferred oil temp, to avoid the ECU implementing a fail safe mode for what it "thinks" is excessive oil temp (during HPDE). I have an engine oil cooler installed but the inferred oil temp is unable to recognize the actual drop in oil temp. Long story, plenty of other threads on the forum talking about the problem with inferred oil temp.

 

[Black9]

I will say installing this, by pulling the intake makes this so much easier to get to....I was able to switch both hoses to the new T-Stat without unbolting the old one, then was able to switch the new one out with a minimal loss of coolant . Definitely more room to work with.

 

[TeeLew]

My engine warms up fine with the 160 deg t-stat. I didn't install this for any sort of power increase. I only installed this t-stat to hopefully impact the calculated/inferred oil temp, to avoid the ECU implementing a fail safe mode for what it "thinks" is excessive oil temp (during HPDE). I have an engine oil cooler installed but the inferred oil temp is unable to recognize the actual drop in oil temp. Long story, plenty of other threads on the forum talking about the problem with inferred oil temp.

I understand what you're doing, and it seems like a completely reasonable test. It's a little different than my concern. At some point, the engine mapping will shift from having warm-up compensations to not having them. It would be good to know what transition temperature that is. I'm sure the temp gain time between cold & 160 will be the same as before, but that doesn't necessarily mean the ECU will see the car as 'warm'. It may need to see something greater than 160 to be on the 'normal' map.

Some other thoughts were that, while on track, temps would be well past stock thermostat opening temps, so this lower thermostat would be of no real use. While true for that application, I think it would be a positive for an autocross car, because you're only really running hard for a minute or less. You'll have significantly lower CHT though the entire run, which should help in terms of detonation/pre-ignition.

 

[SVO MkII]

Some other thoughts were that, while on track, temps would be well past stock thermostat opening temps, so this lower thermostat would be of no real use. While true for that application, I think it would be a positive for an autocross car, because you're only really running hard for a minute or less. You'll have significantly lower CHT though the entire run, which should help in terms of detonation/pre-ignition.

At least in my experience, I'm not sure if this is the case. I base this on the fact that the coolant temp gauge never moves past the midpoint on the gauge (which I understand to be approx. 180). My CHT can be anywhere from 180-240, and that coolant gauge doesn't budge. What I will be testing, is if the coolant is now maintained at 160, what effect if any, will it have on CHT temp? Hopefully, if the heads were being fed 180 deg coolant, and they rose to 240, if they are now fed 160 deg coolant, they will climb to something less. I won't know until I get it on the track. And again, detonation/power is not my issue. I need to keep that inferred oil temp down. And coolant temp and CHT are two of the inputs in that calculation. I have my fingers crossed!

 

[TeeLew]

I need to keep that inferred oil temp down. And coolant temp and CHT are two of the inputs in that calculation. I have my fingers crossed!

Somewhere else I read that there is an actual oil temp sensor, but, when there's a big enough difference between measured and inferred temperatures, the ECU defaults to inferred, which causes your problem. I wonder if there's any way a tuner can change this?

 

[SVO MkII]

Somewhere else I read that there is an actual oil temp sensor, but, when there's a big enough difference between measured and inferred temperatures, the ECU defaults to inferred, which causes your problem. I wonder if there's any way a tuner can change this?

Unfortunately, both the Ecoboost and the V8 display an inferred oil temp. No temp sensor. I checked with COBB, and they said yes, with a custom tune, you could shut off the fail safe/limp mode that is invoked when the ECU sees an excessive inferred oil temp. But a custom tune would create problems with the remaining warranty.

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