203 Thermostat

[HorseHauler]

I want to put a 203 thermostat in my '97 to get it to run a bit hotter for vegoil. I've heard on here and elsewhere that it helps faster warmup and keeps it going hot in the type of driving I do (almost no towing, fair amount of in town and unloaded interstate driving). I've been to two Napa stores and two Ford dealerships and none of them have anything other than the 192-195 thermostat. Any help here? And also, do I need the long or short stem thermostat? Maybe I pull it out and see, because I was reading a thread where someone was saying they switched between the two while building the engines for the '97s. Thanks!

 

[hheynow]

Long Stem 203* T-Stat here

 

[Tx_Atty]

Im putting one in next week. I'll let you know how it goes. I never found it anywhere other than the link hheynow put up. I called several places and they all acted like I was nuts.

 

[hheynow]

Question: What temperature should I be seeing on the factory gauge in the cab after installation?

Answer: The factory temperature gauge is not a true temperature gauge in that it does not show actual temperature. It has three settings: cold, normal and overheating. Cold is when you first start it up. Normal is anything that the computer thinks is normal operating temperatures. This can range from 90o to 220o. Overheating is just that. The gauge is not designed for measuring your actual water temperature it is designed to tell you whether you are in the normal operating temperature or overheating. There is no in-between. With that in mind, the gauge on your dash may stay the same, may go up or may go down slightly. It is NOT an indication of what the thermostat is doing. If you want to know your actual water temperature, you must put in an aftermarket water temperature gauge.

From the DieselSite link

I'm putting in a real water temp gauge next week. I'm tired of not knowing what my dummy dash gauge is trying to tell me...

 

[threejacks]

I went to my local NAPA store about a year ago and asked for a thermostat for my truck, 1995 PSD, and to my surprise the off the shelf part no. was a "205" degree thermostat.

 

[Rookie]

Long Stem 203* T-Stat here

That's where I got mine. Wished I'd known about it earlier. I think the truck runs tons better since I got it installed. I was concerned about hauling hay over the Cascades but the needle hardly moves once it gets up to temp. The first thing I noticed is the cab will get to be 10* cooler than hell with the heater on. Love it on those cold damp mornings..

 

[3-StarJ.R.]

Yep, Bob Riley has these 203° t-stats built just for him for the 96/97 and up strokes.....Some time in 95 they changed the length of the shank in the t-stat from a short one to a longer version and standardized the temp to be somewhere around 193°? So you guys with the 94/early 95"s can get a 203° stat over the parts counter, everyone else has to go to dieselsite.....I've had mine for over a year and it has been perfect, my guage runs dead on between the r and the m in normal regardless of the outside temps.....

 

[tubzz]

i have the 203 T-stat and a real gauge the truck runs(or did run)around 208* to 210* towing 35ft TT,running empty it didn't matter thats where it stayed.
in winter it is great you don't have to turn the blower on for it hot in the cab

 

[KansasDiesel]

I want to put a 203 thermostat in my '97 to get it to run a bit hotter for vegoil. I've heard on here and elsewhere that it helps faster warmup and keeps it going hot in the type of driving I do (almost no towing, fair amount of in town and unloaded interstate driving). I've been to two Napa stores and two Ford dealerships and none of them have anything other than the 192-195 thermostat. Any help here? And also, do I need the long or short stem thermostat? Maybe I pull it out and see, because I was reading a thread where someone was saying they switched between the two while building the engines for the '97s. Thanks!

I bought mine from Bob Riley at DieselSite, and I have run Vegoil for over 1 1/2 years in my PSD around 15,000 miles. It does NOT warm up any faster but it does run hotter your factory gauge will run stright up, it will preheat your vegoil hotter depending on your setup.