# Bout fried my motor last week on vacation



## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

I took a week's vacation from work and went back home to Chicago to visit my family and meet my sister's newborn son, my first nephew. The drive from the gulf to about two hours south of Chicago (out in the country where my mom/stepdad and dad/stepmom live) went uneventful. I got caught in a bad traffic jam in Nashville but my Garmin used it's traffic feature and after sitting in traffic only a few minutes, prompted me to get off the interstate and found me an alternate route north. 

I stayed the night at my mom's and left the next afternoon with her to head up to Chicago to meet my nephew. We got about 6 miles from our destination where traffic got thick and we came to a standstill. We weren't off the interstate more then 2 minutes when I heard chimes coming from behind the steering wheel and an alarming saying engine overheating. I glanced at the needle and it was was almost pegged out on red. Luckily there was nobody in the turning lane to my right at the intersection we were in and I pulled off the highway into the parking lot of a Home Depot and shut it off. Steam wasn't pouring out the top but I could hear the coolant bubbling. 

My mom and I went in to Home Depot and bought a case of water and I topped off the coolant tank after it got done boiling. I didn't have my Garmin digital gauges on when it overheated so I don't know how hot it got but I do know with the SLP 160 thermostat it read around 185-187ish normal operating temperature. It was now running 235-237ish as long as I was keeping cool fresh air flowing threw the front of the car. I limped it the rest of the way to my sisters, staying off busy streets and long red light intersections. Getting it home was simple enough. As soon as we got on the interstate and kept steady fresh air in the front, she dropped back down to 190.

Took it to the garage the next morning and the tech hooked up his suitcase-sized Diablo-looking OBD2 tool and said all the fans were running right and the engine looked good. The coolant was full. The water pump was working. They took my SLP thermostat out and put a $13.50 factory eom 187degree thermostat in and she ran like a raped ape. The SLP unit was only 1 and a half years old. Why it started sticking/went bad so soon is beyond me. I won't be putting another one back. My original oem one ran for 4 years no problems before I put that SLP unit in. So now I've got a new oem thermostat and still have the original as a back up. Anybody else have any issues with the SLP 160 degree 'stat? FYI the normal operating temp is now 201-203 instead of 185-187 like before.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Yup. Just about the same thing happened to me. 

Was taking my sister's fiance home one night. Everything was perfect. Dropped him off and could smell coolant. Looked down and caught my needle way up near H. Pulled over, let it cool down and limped it home. Found a crack in the radiator. Replaced the radiator, everything was perfect. Few days later, same thing occurred. Took a look, the new radiator was perfect, water pump was perfect, everything checked out. Took out the thermostat, same one as you, went to the store and bought an OEM one. Put it in and have not had one issue since. Been a few months now and car is running great.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

My SLP t-stat blew about a year after I had it. I didn't notice any real benfit to it either so I replaced with a OEM equivalant.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

Wow, 3 guys, 3 bad experiences with the same 'stat. Guess that answered my question about possibly ordering another one, but doesn't look to be the case.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

It's not worth it IMHO. It was nice having cooler temps, but the OEM one works better and never has issues. I'd rather deal with the slightly higher temps, then possibly not notice my engine over heating and risk causing serious damage.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

If the car was tuned for the 165* thermostat, it may need to be retuned so the fans work at the right temps. Don't they change the turn on and off temps?


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

Good point/question. I'll call my speed shop this afternoon and see what they say. According to the gm tech that hooked his fancy tech tool up to my computer, everything was running normally (fans turning on and off when they were suppose to). They made the car idle for a half hour, then ran it idle at about 2500 rpms for 15 minutes before they gave the car back to me.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

I checked mine at a local shop as well. Same thing I thought, but my fans go on at the exact needed time. Has been working flawlessly for a while now


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## silversport (Mar 23, 2007)

I forget who (Failsafe???) but someone makes a thermostat that locks open when it goes so you still get flow...glad it worked out for you and there doesn't appear to be any damage... 

http://www.motoradusa.com/products/failsafethermo/index.html

Bill


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