Thermostat upgrade on the 3.5 V6

[Justinlhc]

I've searched and found tons of info on the Hemi and SRT8 thermo upgrade, but I can't seem to find any info on the 3.5 V6 or the 2.7 for that matter. I've looked for the thermostat and it doesn't seem to be easily accessable. I'm thinking it might be more work than it's worth if it's under the intake manifold. Anybody gone through the work to do this on the V6?

Before I get made fun of, my only reason for doing it is that I live in AZ and under hood temps are ridiculous out here. It doesn't get very cold here, but it gets extremely hot so a ~170 thermostat along with the Predator should allow me to keep the temps under control.

[xiaolong]

sure bro, do it. it cant make it worse.

however, i used the 185 tsat so that i wouldnt throw any codes from the engine running too cold. should be above 180

give you a lil more power and maybe better fuel economy.

[Justinlhc]

Any idea where it's at on the 3.5 and how easy it is to change? It's looking like this is a bit more involved than the typical thermo swap.

[xiaolong]

im not sure bro. havent looked in the bay of a 3.5

is there a pic of it on the forums here somewhere?

take a pic and post it. we can tell ya hopefully then.

[Justinlhc]

I'm not sure of any pics on here. I'll snap a few pics tomorrow(I'm in bed).

The upper radiator hose leads to the intake, but it doesn't look like that's where the thermostat is actually located like it is in most other applications, including the C and SRT8.

[Justinlhc]

Hmmm...still no luck finding this damn thing. I can't seem to find any info on the web about where it's located either.

[xiaolong]

i looked as well,

tomorrow ill visit one of my chrysler dealers and look under the hood of one.

[chitown1211]

Juat curious, but is your engine even running hot? I would think the engineers took hot weather into account when designing the car.


I live in MN. My temp gauge stays about the needles width under the halfway point no matter what. -20 degree weather or 100 degree weather. If your needle never goes past halfway I dont think you need to bother with this.

[Justinlhc]

Originally Posted by chitown1211

Juat curious, but is your engine even running hot? I would think the engineers took hot weather into account when designing the car.


I live in MN. My temp gauge stays about the needles width under the halfway point no matter what. -20 degree weather or 100 degree weather. If your needle never goes past halfway I dont think you need to bother with this.

lol, tell that to the hundreds of thousands of people who have done this over the years. If your tranny shifts perfectly fine, why upgrade with a shift kit? If your motor runs just fine, why put a set of headers on it? If your rims are just fine, why put 20"+ rims on it?

[GROUNDED]

The reason it is done is to keep the motor cooler then the stock temp which is either 190 or 210. Cooler temps in the engine keep everything else cooler. Its a cheap and easy thing to do.