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Hummer H3For the Hummer driver who wants the rugged look and off road capabilities of the Hummer, but in a smaller size and with a more fuel economy friendly engine.
I will be doing some mods to the 09 Alpha over this winter, one of the things on my radar is a Thermostat change. Nothing drastic, just a tweak. Do not need a 160 or 180F T Stat. I believe what is in the 3 is possibly the original 190F ACDelco. My truck runs pretty much at 193F on the scan gage all the time, AC on or off, city or highway. Will climb a bit under slow off road loads, but completely happy with what I see so far. From experience, when you make more power you usually make more heat, so I am planning ahead. I figure while the water pump is removed, it doesn't get much easier to address the T Stat than that. The mods will be dialed in with HP Tuners, and I can change setting any time.
If I could make one, I would go 185F, but I can't seem to find one. I remember somebody here went with a 187 and reported it worked great. Can't recall any brand etc.. Anyone have a lead on a 185F for the Alphas?
I will be doing some mods to the 09 Alpha over this winter, one of the things on my radar is a Thermostat change. Nothing drastic, just a tweak. Do not need a 160 or 180F T Stat. I believe what is in the 3 is possibly the original 190F ACDelco. My truck runs pretty much at 193F on the scan gage all the time, AC on or off, city or highway. Will climb a bit under slow off road loads, but completely happy with what I see so far. From experience, when you make more power you usually make more heat, so I am planning ahead. I figure while the water pump is removed, it doesn't get much easier to address the T Stat than that. The mods will be dialed in with HP Tuners, and I can change setting any time.
If I could make one, I would go 185F, but I can't seem to find one. I remember somebody here went with a 187 and reported it worked great. Can't recall any brand etc.. Anyone have a lead on a 185F for the Alphas?
So from my research, I found that our stock Alpha thermostats were 186° units. May be right/wrong or something that Hummerz would know more about. But on my Alpha, I was always running a little higher with the stock thermostat, in the 190's - 200° range. I will have to check my logs from the ScanGauge II to double check.
On my new setup, I changed out the thermostat to a Lingenfelter 176° thermostat. While it was out, some of my buddies indicated that I should have looked at it as well as the old one and new one included with the water pump in a boiling pot of water, but I missed out at that point to double check. Some have stated that Ligenfelter or similar close ones are almost identical in temp to a stock one if you test it, unfortunately. The new 176° thermostat did help some with the new LS3 setup. Sits at 188° mostly. Isn't as low as listed 176°, but better than before by 10-ish degrees by circumstance.
Hope this helps. I was looking for a slightly cooler one to swap out with too, but went with this. Seems to be working.
Also... if you are replacing your waterpump, it may come with a new thermostat with it.. Again, my new one did (even though I didn't use it lol).
Last edited by gpcalero; Dec 31, 2021 at 11:36 AM.
Reason: Added more detail
Alpha Thermostat change
