Thermostat delete restrictor plates

[Hemi395]

Had a chance to try a restrictor plate today. I chose the smallest one that was supposed to be the 203⁰ factory setting. Apparently my truck has super crazy good cooling because even with the mech fan removed and a piece of cardboard covering approx the same area as the closed grill shutters, it still struggled to get to 180⁰ in 68⁰ ambient temps. For me I think Im going to scrap that idea.

So, is there an actual decent 180⁰ tstat in existence anymore? Milodon seems to be out of the tstat business. I have a Mishimoto 180 tstat but I've also read the reliability of those being mediocre. There's the Mr Gasket one but I've seen some reviews on Summit and a couple other places of those not being the greatest either. All that leaves is the Motorad tstats....

 

[Wild one]

Had a chance to try a restrictor plate today. I chose the smallest one that was supposed to be the 203⁰ factory setting. Apparently my truck has super crazy good cooling because even with the mech fan removed and a piece of cardboard covering approx the same area as the closed grill shutters, it still struggled to get to 180⁰ in 68⁰ ambient temps. For me I think Im going to scrap that idea.

So, is there an actual decent 180⁰ tstat in existence anymore? Milodon seems to be out of the tstat business. I have a Mishimoto 180 tstat but I've also read the reliability of those being mediocre. There's the Mr Gasket one but I've seen some reviews on Summit and a couple other places of those not being the greatest either. All that leaves is the Motorad tstats....

About all you can do is buy one,check it in a pot of water on the stove,and hope to hell it's a good one Corey.
If you can find an older Gates,that somebody still has in stock,and as long as it doesn't have motorad stamped on it,they used to be one of the better t-stats,but they're getting hard to find now.I have a couple old Stants and 1 old Gates thermostat left,and i'm hoarding those 3 t-stats,as i bought them 12 years ago,back when you could still get a good thermostat

 

[Hemi395]

So the Mishimoto i did put in a pot of boiling water and it opened at the correct temp. I even took it out, let it close, and put it back in to give it a full cycle. So it probably fine but I've seen posts of people doing that and then 6 months later it gets stuck shut.

This is why I got freaked out and just threw a Mopar tstat in lol

 

[Wild one]

So the Mishimoto i did put in a pot of boiling water and it opened at the correct temp. I even took it out, let it close, and put it back in to give it a full cycle. So it probably fine but I've seen posts of people doing that and then 6 months later it gets stuck shut.

This is why I got freaked out and just threw a Mopar tstat in lol

That seems to be the way alot of thermostats are these days,work okay for a few months,then they go south.
Ma Mopar does have a 180 t-stat,that they use in their 885 horse Red Eye upgrades,but you need a performance dealer to access it.If you go to Select Dealer at the top,it should find the nearest one to you.

https://www.dcperformance.com/

 

[Wild one]

The 180 t-stat is included in the stage 2 and up kits.

https://www.dcperformance.com/p-hellcat-pre-stage-kit-2019-2023-77072609aa

 

[Hemi395]

The 180 t-stat is included in the stage 2 and up kits.

https://www.dcperformance.com/p-hellcat-pre-stage-kit-2019-2023-77072609aa

Can you buy the tstat by itself? Closest dealer to me is about 1.5 hours away...

 

[Wild one]

Can you buy the tstat by itself? Closest dealer to me is about 1.5 hours away...

Honestly i don't know ,as my buddy with the Super Stock,is the only one who's actually had the Direct Connection kit installed,and he had to send the car Stateside to have the 885 horse kit installed,as we don't have any DC dealers up here.About all i know is,he hasn't had any issues with the thermostat so far,but then again,if he's put a 1,000 miles on the car since then i'd be amazed,he's put lots of 1/4 mile passes on the car,but actual street driving miles not so much

 

[GeauxinUp]

What are the cons to these restrictor plates if any?

 

[Wild one]

What are the cons to these restrictor plates if any?

The engine takes longer to warm up,and if you aren't tuned for a 180 or colder thermostat,more then likely will throw a thermostat rational code.
I've ran 160 / 170 and 180 thermostats in the truck,with no issues,but i was tuned for them.Usually a stock truck can get away with a 180 thermostat with out tuning,but anything lower then that will throw a code.
My stock 300 is running a 180,and i also ran a 180 in the wifes old 2016 Challenger with no issues,and neither were tuned for them

 

[GeauxinUp]

The engine takes longer to warm up,and if you aren't tuned for a 180 or colder thermostat,more then likely will throw a thermostat rational code.
I've ran 160 / 170 and 180 thermostats in the truck,with no issues,but i was tuned for them.Usually a stock truck can get away with a 180 thermostat with out tuning,but anything lower then that will throw a code.
My stock 300 is running a 180,and i also ran a 180 in the wifes old 2016 Challenger with no issues,and neither were tuned for them

I can easily tune for it with my hptuner, is that the only drawback vs taking a chance on a failing aftermarket t-stat?

 

[Wild one]

I can easily tune for it with my hptuner, is that the only drawback vs taking a chance on a failing aftermarket t-stat?

Pretty much,and being as how you're where it doesn't really get cold in the winter,you could probably get away with the smaller restrictor plate with no issues