car thermostats

generally most cars run a thermostat between 190 and 210, any lower or higher than this it sort of begins to affect performance of the car, ive never heard of a "fail safe thermostat" from what i know of they all work on the same principle of wax melting at a specific temperature allows a spring loaded valve to open. but the best idea is to just stay with the 210 degree stat your car prolly came with

I have herd of the fail safe thermostats and have herd of people having problems with them so I would stick with a regular one. You can test a thermostat by placing it in boiling water to see if it opens. A lower degree thermostat will open sooner than a higher degree one will. I generally use a 185 degree thermostat and don't change it for different seasons, but some people use a lower degree thermostat for the summer and a higher degree thermostat for the winter. The reason they use a lower temp thermostat is to cycle the coolant through the radiator at a lower temperature to keep the engine cooler. The reverse is true for a higher temp thermostat, which is why it is used in the winter.

Lower Degree thermostats are for warmer climates, like the southern states. Higher degree T-stats are for Colder to Extreme cold Temps. To test a T-stat; Put some water in a pot, drop the T-stat in, bring to a boil and watch it, when you see the thermostat move (Open), check the temperature of the water. The Temp marked on the T-stat should be the same as the temp reading of the water.