Packyoc wrote:
Hey I know this thread is old but I have a couple questions about it because my CRD runs at about a quarter on the temp gauge even in the summer in south Texas. 1. Should I remove the old thermostat or just leave it? I'm assuming to remove it but can't find anything saying to do so. 2. Should I see a MPG increase running at more appropriate temps? Right now I'm about mid 20s mixed driving with the green diesel Eco tune. Thanks.
You can't remove just the thermostat from the jeep, Crd has a unit which includes the thermostat in it, you normally replace the whole unit to replace the thermostat as the thermostat is within the unit and not accessible. So you need to leave the stock thermostat as it is and install the stant. You should see an increase in mpg by around 2-4 mpg (wild guess) in Texas weather.
Now, I have always been against an inline thermostat because it may address the running cold temperature but won't fix the whole issue. Why? You do not know exactly how the existing stock thermostat works. Is it fully opened? Is it partially opened? If last, then you'll run into a big risk of overheating, and that will happen when you'll have some more load (than you normally have with your driving habits) on the engine. If you drive regularly strait roads, with no steep incline hills, you may be fine as you would have noticed overheating right now or summer time. But in case of a partially opened thermostat, you have a reduced flow of coolant to the radiator and when you would need more (when more load on the engine) you'll overheat. In my opinion the inline thermostat is a band aid that may or may not work, but there is no certainty you'll be worry free all the time as you don't know how the existing thermostat is working or how is the position it is stuck (fully open is very unlikely, so would be more or less a partially opened stage)
I'd recommend to either buy a new oem thermostat from idparts.com or get the more expensive version from turbo diesel freak for 450+shipping. This one is a very nice unit that was built from scratch to replicate oem functionality but has a serviceable dodge hemi thermostat that costs about 10-12 bucks.