Quality thermostat replacement?

NineLives

NineLives

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Oct 23, 2022
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Hello. Looking for recommendations for quality thermostat replacement, since Mopar is FUBAR and no idea when a Genuine part will be available.

I have installed 4 thermostats on my 2015 since September 2022. No one has a Genuine Mopar part. They sometimes think they do, but in the end, the parts are by MotoRad and are in Mopar packaging (repackaged, I might add).


2 weeks ago, I had both heads repaired due to gasket failure. The damage extended to my timing chain phasers (replaced entire timing chain kit) and my cam rockers (2 cams and all their rockers replaced). While these repairs were being done, I also had a new water pump and thermostat installed. The Jeep went to the shop obviously because it was overheating.

I've put about 1400 miles on it since getting it back and it's been running warm the while time. A few times it has pushed into the 240s, and today it pushed 257 and red lighted. (Sigh). I noticed a few days after getting it back that my overflow tank was nearly dry. I filled to between the marks. I checked again today and it was below minimum, so I added a bit. This is several hours after driving it and it hitting 257.


Anyways, that is the background.

I'm looking for another brand of thermostat. I've heard Stant (?) may be a good choice, or does Dorman make one that people have been happy with?

I should note that my rad cap was not changed after these repairs, and since it's cheap, I'll probably just do that as well.


Thank you.
 
???
JeepJeezy said:
Ouch! $91.98. They've definitely jumped in price since last year!
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That's weird. For me, the price is $50.37 plus & $6 s&h.
???
Screenshot_20230528-210232~2.png
 
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Motorad is the OEM for Mopar thermostats.

Try Stant if you're not having luck with Mopar.

What's the actual problem and why do you think the thermostat is toast? Perhaps you just needs good flush with some thermocure?

-Mac
 
Yep, even though I have do not track in my settings it is geolocating me for the website. I used my VPN to connect to different sites around the country, and I got different inventory availability and pricing.

When the page first loaded there was a field to enter my zip code, but it went away quickly.

What stinks, is that if you're in the wrong location, inventory will show zero as it does in denver. I mean if they're shipping it, they're shipping it.
 
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I sure am glad yall are running into the same price swings I ran into last fall. These website discrepancies are what caused me to call Mopar, and thus sent me down this spiral of finding Genuine parts.

I call them based off the weird pricing. And we can't figure out what the deal is. They tell me there are x-amount of inventory and these dealerships within 100 miles of you have them. So I start calling around and every one of them is a Motorad part. I finally find a dealership that "verifies" it's a Genuine part. Drive an hour to pick it up, it's a Motorad repackaged (stapled bag) into a Chrysler bag. And they want over $60 for this when it is $25 at an auto parts store.

THAT is why I'm not ordering direct from the Mopar store.
 
macleanflood said:
Motorad is the OEM for Mopar thermostats.

Try Stant if you're not having luck with Mopar.

What's the actual problem and why do you think the thermostat is toast? Perhaps you just needs good flush with some thermocure?

-Mac
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Thank you for answering my question. I'll look at Stant.

I think it's the therm because everything else "normal" has been done to my Jeep to address overheating and/or dramatic temp fluctuations.

Within last 3 weeks:
Both heads/gaskets repaired, new intake gaskets, 2 new cams and all rockers, new timing chain kit, new water pump, new thermostat, radiator flush.

I'm running very warm consistently after about 15mins of driving. Stays in the 226-235 temp range, fan is constantly blowing. Easily climbs to the 240s and over the weekend it red lighted at 257 going up a hill.

Honestly don't know if I have an air pocket, need to change the rad cap and/or have a junk therm. All of that is inexpensive, which is why I was looking for other parts manufacturers. The shop that did the work is being unhelpful after the repair.
 
Also entirely possible the shop completely fucked up and no thermostat will fix the issue.

I think I would be doing a combustion gas test on your radiator.

-Mac
 
NineLives said:
Luckily I have a lot of fluid left in my kit to do several tests. Thanks for suggesting that!
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Ok so today I jacked up the front end and burped to my satisfaction. There were some bubbles. I then removed some fluid from the rad and did a combustion gas fluid test. That came back negative. Great, so far so good right? Top off the rad and get about my day.

Jeep has pushed to 248 and ranged from 240 to 248 constantly while on the freeway for an hour, not pushing speeds, no a/c on etc.


When I burped this morning, the upper hose didn't get hot until 221 and then dropped to 210 and stayed around that temp.

For shits and giggles I call a local dealership and he says they have both Mopar and Motorad t-stats, so I'm gonna give that a go and also get a new Mopar rad cap. They are 17#, all the ones in the stores are 18#.


I'll report back tomorrow, if anyone is interested.
 
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NineLives said:
Ok so today I jacked up the front end and burped to my satisfaction. There were some bubbles. I then removed some fluid from the rad and did a combustion gas fluid test. That came back negative. Great, so far so good right? Top off the rad and get about my day.

Jeep has pushed to 248 and ranged from 240 to 248 constantly while on the freeway for an hour, not pushing speeds, no a/c on etc.


When I burped this morning, the upper hose didn't get hot until 221 and then dropped to 210 and stayed around that temp.

For shits and giggles I call a local dealership and he says they have both Mopar and Motorad t-stats, so I'm gonna give that a go and also get a new Mopar rad cap. They are 17#, all the ones in the stores are 18#.


I'll report back tomorrow, if anyone is interested.
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Try turning on your a/c to the windshield to see if that makes a difference with temp.
 
I'm not trying to bump this thread, but wanted to add my experience for the folks spending money and chasing overheating problems that find this thread from Google.

I had similar issues to OP, running "warm" (220s - 230s) basically all the time and would go into the 240s+ uphill, on ramps, overtaking, etc. but cooling off some in the city. I had spent hundreds throwing parts at this problem--replaced nearly the entire cooling system, but with aftermarket stuff since I had no luck finding a Mopar thermostat. I bought this Jeep used (one owner) at 59k miles and strangely, it already had a MotoRad thermostat on it. Probably should've kept looking but oh well..

I finally took it to a shop, they thought maybe a cracked or warped head, but they talked me into trying a Mopar thermostat and radiator cap. When I brought it in, both components were Autozone Duralast which were both repackaged MotoRad items.

The shop's diagnosis was that the MotoRad thermostat wasn't even starting to open until 203* and wasn't fully open all the way until 220*, at which point my Jeep was boiling over and unable to do a proper burp with the system open. According to the shop, the Mopar unit starts to open at 195* and is fully open at ~203*. Like OP, a genuine Mopar thermostat and rad cap seems to have fixed the issue completely.

Moral of the story, if you buy an aftermarket thermostat and it is labeled to START opening at 203* (and t-stat temp specs are typically given at the "start to open" temperature), you're probably going to have overheating problems as the already marginal cooling system of the JK struggles to keep up and your T stat starts closing again as it cools down to the normal temp.
 
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