dremd
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 31, 2007
- Location
- South Louisiana
- TDI
- 06 sprinter. 03 jetta wagon premium with 6 speed ALH swap, 14 JSW
I read this thread with interest, and with a history of good and bad thermostats. A Standt one I put in my 91 Jetta (IDI engine) cost me a cylinderhead gasket. It broke apart, burying the disc that serves as a valve, into the impeller intake port, where it fits perfectly.
Since then I've been buying mostly Behrs, one Wahler (which I didn't like the construction of), and one from VW. Te Behrs that I ended up with were identical in appearance to the VW, but that may not be the whole story.
Autohausaz, where I have bought various VW parts from lists two Wahlers and two Behrs for my 99.5 TDI. The listing goes something like this:
Wahler OEM 80C $11.11 056121113A
Wahler alternate 71C $9.44 056121113E
Behr OEM 87C w/gasket $14.48 044121113
Behr alternate 87C $9.70 056121113D
Since I have many gaskets on hand, I am thinking of replacing the thermostats in my 99.5 and 03 ALH engines with the Behr alternate. Not only do I like the additional heat output in the winter, but I find the engine temps are simply more stable when set higher. I figure that the temp climbing and dropping during various levels of power output only stresses the head gasket for an earlier failure.
Since this discussion had little mention of Behr thermostats, I figured I would ask.
What temp is the Behr?
My new stat isn't super stable, but I believe it is acceptable (I've seen 189- 199 after warm up).