it is colder. what i mean by that is the car seams to pull much more within the first 15 min of driving. now i am not stupid i don't romp my car as soon as i start it up but it seams everyday when i leave for work the car has alot of power. buy the time i get off the highway 20min later the car does not seam to pull like it did when it was colder. here is a little backround so someone can help give an acurate answer. 95 se 5spd 75k, pop charger. I just bought the car so i will give a complete tune up ie plugs synthetic oil, fuel filter, gear box oil....i am forgetting anything... also i have seam posts on what heat range plugs should be in.. should i run a colder plug if the car seams to run better when its cold.. any help is very appricated....louis

 

All engines will make more horsepower when the engine is cool. The intake manifold and the air under the hood is cooler, so you get a denser air charge. When the mass air sensor senses the denser charge, it tells the computer to hold the fuel injectors open longer. More air with more fuel equals more horsepower. If you got rid of that pop charger and installed a CAI, you would notice a significant difference on cold days.

One of the more popular computer chips for Corvettes comes with a lower temperature thermostat to reduce the normal operating temp. of the engne.

Don't change the temperature range of your plugs unless you are running NO2 or a s/c.

 

Your car feels better becuase yes(as Sinewave points out), the engine is cooler. But the car is also in it's warm-up mode. Meaning the engine is running a pre-determined fuel/air ratios and timing. This is ususally a richer fuel mix. This + the cold engine = a peppier feeling car.

I don't suggest putting a lower thermostat as it may allow the car to run too cold for a longer period of time. This may/may not lead to fouling plugs or longer warm-up times.

 

I think this is normal for every car. For the 1st 15 minutes, your car hasn't properly warmed up, so the ECU is still set in the open loop mode. In open loop mode, your car runs rich, and running rich puts too much fuel thru the system. When your car gets warm, it settles down to what its really capable of.

DW

 

I didn't mean to imply that you should install a colder thermostat; you won't get any power gains unless the ECU is reprogrammed for it.

 

Well since reprogramed ecus for different thermostats are not available for the maxima, I thought I would throw that in. Why? Because you know the next question is "where can I get one, how much does it cost and how hard is it to install??"

 

Good point!

 

Hey, do you guys know if we can get a lower temp thermostat for our max's? The guy at AutoZone said we can't get them.

Thanks.

 

This is really a poor attempt at humor? Read the thread.

 

I dont get it....

I was wondering if someone knows of any other way to do it?

Sorry...

 

I think that putting in a colder thermostat is REALLY not a good idea. I read a thread somewhere sometime back of someone who did it. He basically said that the ECU gets really confused and tries really hard to compensate, and the results are your car runs really funny. It makes sense, cause your ECU is programmed with certain parameters,and engine operating temp should be a fixed parameter, or range.

If you want your car to run cooler, try synthetic, or semi-synthetic oil in your crankcase. My temp gage settles just below the half mark with semi-synthetic oil (or synthetic). With regular dino oil, my temp stays right in the middle when warmed up.

DW

 

Is that really true DW?

Thermostats are designed to run at their temperature rating so no matter what oil you run, your antifreeze will be the temp your thermostat rated to. When the thermostat gets to hot, it opens up and lets the antifreeze flow thru the radiator to cool off, therefore keeping the fluid temp within the thermostat temp rating.

Am I wrong because you will not see a difference in oil temp unless you have an oil temp gauge.

 

Yup. What you said is the logical rational of what is going on. I use the stock thermostat. And yes, my temp gage (the standard one that every Maxima has) really does sit lower. I can't explain why, but it does. Synthetic is supposed to do that anyhow. Ask anyone who's switched to Synth, their car temps drop. You can really notice it with cars that have digital temp gages, like some Vettes and VW VR6 cars.

As an experiment one time, to see if the benefits of synthetic stay in the car if you go back to regular, I switched back to dino 10W30. Sure enough, during that very day, my gage settled right at the half mark.

It's almost like I can look at your temp gage and tell if you're using synthetic or not



DW

 

Hello Deezo,
Have you had any luck with the LED bulbs from LEDTRONICS?
I'm just wondering. Please let me know. Thanks so much.

Thai Hoang.

 

I am not saying your not experiencing this but I am wondering how the Synthetic oil is keeping the antifreeze cooler. Are you saying by the engine parts staying cooler, the antifreeze will stay cooler?

I had a truck with and I ran full synthetic oil and I didn't get lower temperatures buy running synthetic oil. I could have been getting lower temps but didn't notice with the gauge.

Mainly, I guess I am trying to understand how the oil and antifreeze benefit each other.

 

Maybe the temp gage in the truck wasn't that sensitive. Try it on your own car, if you haven't switched to synthetic already. I'm running semi-synth now and it works, too.

It does make sense that "the engine parts staying cooler, the antifreeze will stay cooler" because the coolant goes thru the engine.

DW

 

Check your email.

 

Word!!!! Thats why I am trying to figure out how does Synthetic oil makes your temp gauge in your car show lower temps when its connect to the antifreeze temp. I could understand the theory if the temp gauge is connected to the block of the engine.


Off Topic: Thanks for the PM.

 

Deezo, I tend to agree with you; the thermostat's only function is to regulate the engine temperature no matter how low the friction is between engine parts.