before you think your pinging is tune related read this....

[vlad01]

Fixed! Bought a genuine stat from holden, its the hottest it ever been since I have had this engine.

Now on a negative cold morning I warm up faster and sits about 2-3 notches on the temp gauge, before the highest it ever got was 1.5 notches and normally sat at 1 notch.

So thats it, the last 3 or 4 stats been shit out of the box, 2-3 trident and the last one was dayco. None worked as good as this holden one, not even close.

I am hopping to see a big improvement in fuel consumption now, currently getting about 550k out of a tank, should hopefully get back up tot he 750k I was getting long time ago. Will keep you posted on this one.

[Holden202T]

that sounds about right for temp gauge reading to me!

[vlad01]

yeah its definitely more hot now. heater is much warmer and heats up faster.


All the old stats were closed when removed, so none actually jammed open, just open earlier or too much .

Maybe some guys in china thought they would save production cost by using 70º wax all round That would make good business sense for them.

the genuine stat is made in the USA as well as all other parts I have bought from Holden.

I just bought the other day a new stat and intake gaskets from repco, opened the packets up and tossed the stuff on the self and went and got the same stuff again from Holden yesterday.

The intake gaskets were just garbage!, didn't even fit right and plastic was all over the shop. Difference? genuine cost about 125 for the intake, repco was about 45?

[Helical]

I think the last two thermostats I've changed were trident, both seemed to need a lot of heat to open. The one in my 304 used to run up about halfway on the gauge before dropping back to a stable operating temp. The one in my ecotech is worse, it gets 2/3 to 3/4 the way up the gauge before it opens and drops back to a stable temp. I do have air in the system on the ecotech which I'm guessing wouldn't help but I'm not impressed with these stats.

[vlad01]

I am pretty happy now, sits at 3 notches most of the time, I have only done one round trip to work and back but the economy is improved a lot already. So the whole time I just thought my engine was wearing out and all it was that it was a crappy run of stats.

[vlad01]

All good now with the fuel usage.

I clocked the trip meter when I filled it to the brim.

note the fuel gauge and trip meter, oh and also the temp gauge.



some 40 odd ks later.

[Charlescrown]

Can't miss having some input with this one. One subject area I have been teaching for the last 30 years is cooling systems.
YES the thermostat only controls the minimum operating temperature and YES a high flow stat can be of advantage if the flow rate of the standard one is not high enough to increase the flow needed in a modified car eg turbo. They can be identified by have a larger diameter valve but drilling holes to increase flow can only lead to longer warmup times meaning higher pollution and engine wear. The more power says a simple thing the more heat needed to be remove. You cannot produce more power without producing more heat it's simple maths. Many modern cars are fitting the thermostat into the inlet of the engine to get a better regulation of engine temperature.
There is a simple calculation P1*V1*t1= P2*v2*t2 which demonstrates that the higher the flow the better the cooling but over-cooling is a serious issue with engine wear.
I laugh at the adds that say their coolant improves cooling system efficiency. Water is the best at transferring heat but water also has corrosion and cavitation issues so coolant is added to improve these areas as well as raising the boiling point and lowering the freezing points of the system. (maybe I should agree this is where the improvements are made). A good coolant that suits the alloy components of the engine in a 50/50 mix is just what the doctor ordered.
One issue with coolant is the reduction in viscosity and it will leak where water won't but that should not be taken into account when deciding to use it or not. Modern engines can't do without it. I have seen a cylinder head corrode and blow a head gasket within 1 year of fitment and not using coolant.
Most coolants sold on the Australian are highly toxic and their chemical composition has been banned in Europe for over 20 years. The friendlier type are labelled NON AMINE and are much safer to use.
Hope my comments dispel some myths or increase discussion.

[Holden202T]

the head that corroded in 1 yr was that alloy or cast iron ?

[vlad01]

the head that corroded in 1 yr was that alloy or cast iron ?

that would be alloy, I seen that too, few months and its Swiss cheese!

[Holden202T]

its not stray current doing that though is it ?