Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryHughes
Although the thermostat sets the minimum operating temperature, the actual operating temperature is a function of the thermal efficiency of your cooling system.
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A common misconception. Your cooling system has the thermal transfer capacity to shed heat well in excess of what the engine can generate, other wise the engine would never cool down after becoming stuck in traffic; but the thermostat controls the actual steady state operating temperature. The simple fact that the operating temperature, moving from a factory 186F stat to a 160F stat lowers the steady state (say 50MPH cruise temperatures on a 68F day) down from 210F down to 175F refutes your above statement as the only thing that has changed is the thermostat, the cooling system is otherwise exactly the same.