The 192F is the ideal one to have. After much discussion in the 3rd gen with @mistypotato .

We discovered the 192F opens a little better than the normal 195F at the start. This helps with keeping the system from reaching an overheat condition too soon. You would think 3F would be minor thing. Watching the YT vids showed otherwise.

I'll go back and find the p/n for the 4th gen we need to use.

 

The 192F is the ideal one to have. After much discussion in the 3rd gen with @mistypotato .

We discovered the 192F opens a little better than the normal 195F at the start. This helps with keeping the system from reaching an overheat condition too soon. You would think 3F would be minor thing. Watching the YT vids showed otherwise.

I'll go back and find the p/n for the 4th gen we need to use.

Thx Mo-Fun...be looking for the p/n when yr ready...I'm burnt...

 

The 2004-192 will be my upgrade for the 2006 SXE !

https://www.chryslerminivan.net/threads/anyone-ever-tried-water-wetter-or-rislone-hyper-cool.185296/page-5?post_id=1864818#post-1864818

 

In this thread @mistypotato was bench-marking the t-stats.
https://www.chryslerminivan.net/threads/just-received-motorad-high-flow-thermostat-my-review.185443/

The 2004-192 looks to be the ideal choice overall.

 

More Information for MOTORAD 2004192

 

The 192F is fast response and opening. Keeps the heat down. 3rd gens trap heat in their engine bay due to the limited grill intake. Its one of the problems the 3rd gen deals with in the south hot summers.

For the 4th gen, the 192F helps as well.

 

A while ago when I was talking more on the GMT 400 forums, people didn't understand a lot of basic things with thermostats and how engines work in general.

Running a cold thermostat like 160 is a great way to destroy your cylinder bores. The cylinder walls and rings and pistons are all sorts of different metals and they don't all reach a happy expansion point below 180.

One particular guy there who really doesn't know how engines work thought it was bad running a 195 because the computer would back off some spark advance. Obviously a hot engine using crappy octane and fuel injection is more likely to produce detonation, so retarding the timing is actually a good thing.

I'd say if there isn't a rule of thumb, it should be ~190 is pretty safe. 192, 195... whatever. To a point, it's been proven over the last 60 years that slightly hotter engine has drastically reduced cylinder bore wear, and if you lose 2 horsepower, who actually cares.

 

I'd say if there isn't a rule of thumb, it should be ~190 is pretty safe. 192, 195... whatever. To a point, it's been proven over the last 60 years that slightly hotter engine has drastically reduced cylinder bore wear, and if you lose 2 horsepower, who actually cares.

Same here. It wouldn't want to stray below 190F as MPG would drop too. 192F seems to be a sweet spot to open sooner and with more flow. Normal t-stats open with 3/8-inch flow, this 192F opens at 1/2-inch flow.

The early 1st gen and 2nd gens had better t-stats all along from our parts discovery in the other thread.

 

I run a 86C/186.8F on my 2016 DG summer and winter. That's cool. Better performance.

 

Interesting discussion but ........
It seems that the 3.6L Pentastar had two thermostats in play, one that opened at 203F/95C and one that opened around 185F/85C. Many have stated that their cruising temperatures were around 185F/85C, me included, for years before I ever change my thermostat. Perhaps Chrysler was trying to save the rocker arms by keeping cruising temperatures down a bit, I don't know. My temperature gauge hardly ever sees 203F/95C. Overall, the engine is running several degrees cooler while cruising.
For the 3.6L Pentastar, Dorman offers a thermostat/housing assembly made of plastic with a 203C thermostat and a more durable aluminum housing with a 186.8F/86C thermostat. Go figure, Dorman knows something. I'm running the 186.8F/86C thermostat and still cruising at 185F/85C per the gauge.

Rockauto site re Dorman 186.8F thermostat:

More Information for DORMAN 9023036XD

Mishimoto, RIPP, and others make lower temperature thermostats.

 

It seems that the 3.6L Pentastar had two thermostats in play, one that opened at 203F/95C and one that opened around 185F/85C.

My first suspicion without actually looking would be... at highway+ speeds, you're cramming tons of air through the radiator, which is just a water to air heat exchanger. It might be too difficult to maintain a stable 200 in the winter going 80 down the interstate.

Or maybe additionally, the rear head does just tend to get hotter some have speculated, and a more stable and slightly cooler temp would let the computer push the spark advance right up to the line of detonation much easier.

 

First, as long as your oil is good, you want to run hot. In the near past, there was talk of a ceramic lined engine, which could run real hot, but I guess it was too, too fragile.

Second, regarding running at 185F or 203F, your actual temperature scale, for engineering calculations, is 645R (Rankine) and 663R, which makes the temp difference 3% instead of 10%, and puts things in perspective.

Finally, probably the thing the manufacturers don't want to happen is for the coolant to boil, which means a working thermostat, a pressurized cooling system, and coolant with the correct boiling point.

 

That kid kinda asked for it... but it was still tragic of course.

👍👍👍 I'm not even going to get into a discussion about....'FLUX Capacitors'....😝

Ford Pinto? I loved that car... Tons of fun in the snow with the 'whoopie handle' between the seats...

 

Don't mention that crappy car, had one and survived ...... luckily ...... nobody ran into the back of it. Interesting and sort of fun but a rust bucket to boot. If an explosion didn't get you, the rust would. Front suspension control arms rusted too. Look Ma, we lost a front wheel.

Interesting management decision at Ford at the time. Lives and injuries came second, it was less expensive to pay the lawsuits than fix the defects. They became famous for that decision and similar ones. I was a Ford guy but not after the Pinto. I bought a 1976 Dodge Aspen ..... or was it a Plymouth Volare, it had a Volare trunk. Those were the days. The slant six didn't work as well as it should, emissions stuff killed it, always carried a spare ballast resistor in the glove compartment. It was a rust bucket too but Chrysler repaired it. I didn't keep it long and traded for a two door 1979 Plymouth Caravelle - two tone, light blue bottom with a white vinyl top. Nice Vehicle, 318ci. Caravelle = Diplomat back then.

 

My pre AFM 6.0 just works every day. Actually both of my 6.0 LS engines are pre AFM. The express vans didn't get it. I dumped the yukon before it had trouble.