Pics of 180* Thrmo install and Blower Powered CAI for 5 & 7 SP wires.

[max49]

I finally got my 180* thermostat put in. I had to take the air intake off to gain access to the housing bolts. Of course it did'nt go perfect the first time. I was getting a little seap at either the hose or the housing so I had to take it all apart again. Afterward I found that I believe it was around the hose. I did'nt like the spring loaded clamp so I replaced it with a normal threaded hose clamp and that may have been the problem. I put it together the 2nd time with both clamps and let it get up to 182* with no signs of leakage.
When the T stat opened at 182*, it was obvious in the SG. With the coolant cool in the radiator, the SG indicated 172* almost instantly. I did'nt like letting the engine idle too long so I'll post back after my next trip, possibly not til 8-4-11. I think it will be good for me with all the mountain passes she has to climb out here. I'm hoping I don't find any other unfavorable side effects besides the heater not getting as hot.









I'm also enclosing some pics of my blower powered CAI for # 5 & 7 SP wires and also my aluminum air deflector to force more air through the cool pack instead of under the engine and chassis.









The tin foil ducting is not a great choice and is not very durable, but it's holding together so far. The svc cntr like my ideas to get more cooling, but it obviously was not enough to keep my first engine from blowing.
It does'nt hurt any thing but I have my doubts if it does any good at all.
I'm optimistic that the 180* thermostat will keep things cool enough that the other stuff will not be necessary.
I'll find out.

[iRV4FUN]

Thanks for sharing your upgrades. It seems those spring clamps are only good one time at the factory – Good idea to go with a Gates clamp.

The side-by-side picture of both Termostato’s looks like the Duralast on the right has a bigger opening. Bigger opening = Bigger flow! When you start up on those RM grades is hopefully when you’ll see a difference.

I got my Duralast #15898 last week. Autozone is running a half price Prestone sale and sold out of their NON-Dex-Cool Coolant. Dex-Cool PH is difficult to manage over time. I dropped mine a long time ago.

Doesn’t look like you lost a lot of fluid on the T-stat swap. Did you use any sealant?

[flash1942]

Max49,thanks for the pictures.I am going to put the 180 degree thermostat on my 2003 Workhorse soon.Keep us advised on your opinions of this change as you drive it.
On the last picture,I can barely see the right side of your radiator (viewed from front).I can't tell if the air dam piece of rubber is there.There should be a vertical piece of air dam about 5" wide on each side of radiator.Both pieces on my MH had come loose and fell between the radiator and A/C condensor and was blocking air flow.I only noticed it when laying under MH looking up.

[max49]

I didn't lose much coolant, I used a suction bulb to get it out of the radiator and housing. There doesn't seem to be any place or need to put permatex or sealant. The housing may not even touch if you torque the 3 bolts evenly. The t state has a rubber on each side sealing it.
As far as the vertical air dam go, I have one on the driver side but not the passenger side.. IDK if one is suppose to be there or not. It doesn't really look like one was ever there . If it seems important, I could make one.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by max49 If it seems important, I could make one.

Yes please do - cover as much of the open space as possible & allowing the PCM a little opening so it gets cooled by air flow.

[iRV4FUN]

Wish my unit had a bigger grille like your big billet grille. Last week we had a brand new Winnie next to our site with a huge grille. Seems body builders are starting to get it – cool air intake starts at the grille!


The braineack at the Damon factory designed a limited air intake grill on my unit and put my windshield washer container along with the hot air intake “tuba” in front of my cool pack. One of these days I’m going to take my front engine hatch off and replace it with a mesh screen grille. One of these days...