Billet Aluminum Thermostat Housing for 4.0L 1GR-FE

Who are you talking too? Just curious.

 

Yeah I can agree with this but it’s basically the same point I’m making. Changing out your thermostat alone will not increase the efficiency of the rest of your cooling system in hot weather conditions. If your system is only capable of cooling the engine to 190 then having a 160-170 or 180 makes no difference at all.

 

I was agreeing with nd4spdbh about it being recommended to have the vehicle tuned for the colder thermostat.

 

This sometimes happens, when the battery is disconnected and the ECU has to go through its learning cycles again. Seen it happen.

 

I dont think anybody is saying it will change the operating temp, or that they want to.. at least that's not what I was saying on my end.. I just want to clear that up. I agree with you.. it wont change the operating temp. I'm just saying if it allows the system to start cooling sooner than normal, with a drivetrain that is putting out more heat than normal, in a climate/scenario that may be hotter than normal.. to me that's being more efficient. Why wait till 180 (or whatever) to open up when it could start cooling sooner. I'm also just going off what I have personally experienced over the years.. that 160 T stat has been in there for quite some time now.

 

On an otherwise stock cooling system, I have installed and seen the 160° t-stats, not allow the engine to get to the minimum operating temperature, to not throw a CEL. One was a stock N/A engine, and the other had a TRD s/c. So the t-stat was directly responsible for those running cooler.

However, I leave a lot of room in my prior statement, and still because not all climates and conditions are the same.

 

I have seen this on two different vehicles as well. a stock 07 fj cruiser, and a TRD S/C 13 tacoma. Both 160's and both had issues not getting up to temp. I saw reduced fuel mileage in both instances as well.

 

The only thing I can add to this discussion is if you are going to replace the thermostat, why not buy one that fails to the open position, not the closed position. If your thermostat fails in the closed position, you can either overheat your engine or be stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow. But if you have a thermostat that fails in the open position, you might never even notice it's failed.

An example I found doing a quick search:

Fail-Safe® Thermostats | Prevent Engine Damage from Failing Cooling System (motorad.com)

 

180° Fail Safe
MotoRad 7267-180 Fail-Safe Thermostat

$15 MotoRad 7267-180 Fail-Safe Thermostat

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C5I91U

The option is available!

I have never been a huge fan of the failsafe thermostats for the exact reason you stated… yes it helps protect from overheat but if you are not watching your warm ups close you may not realize it failed open… once it has been overheated or “activated” it is stuck open and needs to be replaced… it is a lesser of two evils of course it being worse to overheat then to run cold…

 

I ordered ten 170°. Out of the ten, 6 of them dropped right in, the other 4 are a hair too big on the flange outside diameter.
Literally 0.05” bigger in diameter. With that being said I don’t want anyone having issues with fitment. I will be listing all replacement thermostats we stock separately so it is easier to get a replacement if needed.

I will be checking all of the 170° thermostats that we receive to guarantee their fitment into our billet housing to save anyone the headache! It will specifically say it guarantees to fit our housing.

 

Qa needs to step up the game. Lol also send one too me mate.

 

This is the 170° thermostat that we are sourcing… only difference is the air bleeder that is pre set.

MotoRad 214-170JV Thermostat

$10 MotoRad 214-170JV Thermostat

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C5I80C

I know! I am seriously glad I pulled them all out to check! And the only reason I check every thermostat… I have had over a dozen completely wrong boxed thermostats too like wtf!?! I guess you start going cross eyed looking at all those similar part numbers too long lol.

When I first discovered it, I called my buddy at UCM. I initially thought I had a housing where the thermostat pocket had been cut slightly smaller? Him on the phone “did you check more of the housings vs other thermostats, you know my thermostat pockets are better qc then those thermostats…” Me “oh duh let me check… oh crap yeah your right…” CLICK he hangs up . Lesson of the day don’t question the machinist without making sure lol.

I’m assuming the thermostats are stamped out so you’d think it would be pretty consistent

 

Stamped parts usually have a jig and one out of so many are pulled and checked with feeler gauges to whatever is the acceptable tolerance is. Metal coil should be checked before it is run through a feeder and pressed. Die's are normally checked after every run. So it goes back to whatever is their acceptable tolerance. But thats the difference between machined parts and stamped parts with machined parts much more precise vs stamped which leans towards accurate to make the run cost productive.

 

happened to me when my oem thermostat failed. however i was offroading and in the middle of nowhere. good thing for me i always carry tools, oil, and water when offroading. i took off the thermostat housing. removed thermostat. filled it back with water. and keep on going. easy 10min temproary fix to get you home

 

So has anyone installed this on a supercharged engine and confirmed fitment ?

 

Will be in a few days. When doing an engine swap.

 

Still gathering parts to do my entire system.. then its going in with everything else.

 

Ditto for me

 

Everyone in this thread is talking about temperatures, and not material.

If you are a mechanic who deals with things professionally and not theoretically, you know why parts are plastic.
-manufacturers are cheap and don't care about the longevity of your car
-automakers want to sell parts and don't care if your car breaks, one plastic part or three. That gets you in the door of the dealer where the technician will find more things wrong, and the brand continues to make money selling parts that although cheap to produce, get marked up outrageously
-car companies don't want your car on the road for a long time. They want it to break, and be such a pain in the ass to keep on the road that it forces you to buy their newer model, because they make more money on sales selling you a $40k 3rd gen, than you doing DIY oil changes

That to me appears to be a benefit to this part, if you plan to keep the truck on the road which is everyone here, and don't want a surprise breakdown far out on a trail.
Which matters more to 4x4 owners. Breakdown in a car? No problem. You're in a city. Not on a far away desolate (beautiful) trail.

The engine bay has heat.
Plastic is cheaper to make. Plastic does not like heat. It degrades, weakens, cracks, breaks, and leaks over time.
Look at an Audi B6 A4. Most of the upgrade kits people install as maintenance (1.8T) switches from metal to plastic as much as possible, such as coolant J-plug. Same exact thing applies to many other models, with big name companies developing upgrades (ECS Tuning, 034 Motorsport, etc.)

But metal? All metal does is slowly corrode on the outside (if in the presence of salt), and rust inside if you fail to change the coolant on time (doesn't apply, you all take care of your trucks)

At the end of the day, I don't really care what you do. Want to do the labor of installing $30 plastic? Go ahead.
Toyota does have better formula plastics and rubbers that last longer than German cars, I'll give them that. But, the Tacoma also runs at a lower temp which is probably less fuel efficient (maybe more reliable); German cars tend to be set up from factory to run at hotter temps.

But this is ONE item. (regarding people's concern of price). Nobody hesitates to pay out of pocket $2k for a front steel bumper and springs with 6mo lead time, $1000 roof rack to move a mattress once a year, $2k+ on LCA's for a rear wheel drive SoCal gardener truck so they can go faster over sand sometimes
but $150 for one of the few major cooling components? WHOA, Time To Shit Pants

I am more curious to ask OP which variant would be recommended regarding temperatures.
From what I understand, cold temp is for supercharged to prevent detonation, and the only other choice is 180deg for stock trucks (like mine) so it can operate warmed up.

Generally, ECU is programmed to warm up by dumping more fuel. Like a carbureted motorcycle that you adjust manually. Except the ECU being a computer does it automatically (part of having a modern vehicle). This temporarily causes worse MPG.
If a tstat is set to open too low, that results in open loop (coolant flows to radiator cooled by air), preventing warm up, and not allowing running at temp.
Causing it to burn too much gas.

So if that means stock = get 180deg, that only leaves two choices. High flow, standard flow. That's what I'm unsure of how to choose/why.
For me at least, my truck and I have lived through cold, temperate, and hot areas. Nobody can predict the future, I don't know where I will live years down the road, and want the truck to be as universal, robust, and reliable as possible - able to function in any environment.
Ideally not "uhoh, this road trip goes through a hot area, lets take the truck apart" - defeats the point of having a Toyota.
While I do live in CA climate now, I don't know if I will forever, not to mention road trips.
The beach is beautiful, but I don't know how much longer I'm trying to deal with $5 gas, jog outside turning into obstacle course jumping over dirty needles, and $3000 apartments

 

Engineered obsolescence.