Hotter thermostats than OE?

[ferreed]

Hi, y'all.

My '95 1.6L MX-3 is having trouble keeping itself up at proper operating temperature. I'll be tearing it down and replacing a few components soon, and I've been thinking about putting in a hotter thermostat while I'm in there. Is there a reason I shouldn't go hotter than the 180 degrees F OE thermostat? There's a 192 degree F thermostat on the market... I'd like to use that as my replacement, but I also don't want to beg for expensive problems. What do you folks think?

Thanks for your thoughts,
Darren

[OsoSlo z28]

heat is your enemy. you shouldn't have any problems with your factory thermostat as far as the temp goes. you might have other problems causing this. it's possible the thermostat is stuck open. if you were to go to a higher thermostat, you might have overheating problems in the warmer months. i'd look into possible problems since you have people living in much colder climates with no problems.

[ferreed]

Thanks for the reply, Oso.

180 degrees seemed pretty cold to me, but then I'm coming from working on engines with cast iron blocks and heads. My 351W is safe to run at 205 degrees F and doesn't really get into trouble until 225 or 230. I guess I was just hoping the same might be true of the MX-3.

I, too, suspect that the t'stat is binding because it holds good temp sometimes, but then drops back all the way to the 'Cold' tick mark. I'll be changing the t'stat and testing to make sure the fan t'stat isn't going on the blink and running the fan inappropriately.

Thanks for the insight,
Darren