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anyone use the DIESELSITE 203* t-stat???

13K views 81 replies 28 participants last post by  Ron's power stroke 
#1 ·
just read the info on it, just wondering if anyone has one & result's???
:popcorn:
 
#3 ·
yea, ive run one for quite a while, just another piece to the puzzle i guess, i def like their billet housing thats worth every penny
 
#7 ·
I had one for a couple of years, really couldn't tell the difference between it and a stock one. About 8,000 miles ago I did Upper (dual alternator) and lower radiator hoses and a coolant flush and went back to stock....

Billet housing is spiffy though........
 
#8 ·
i get a lot more heat in the winter with mine..

the 203 is not about more power.. its about being more efficient with the fuel being used (cleaner burn).. IH found the 203 works best for the 7.3.. the big CAT's and Cummins you see in big trucks run 208..in my tractor trailer .the only time I see these temps met is when the truck is pulling hard in the hills where you need every bit of power you get without wasting fuel..when she gets to 208 the fan kicks on and the temps drop to about 200+ and climb again...the rest of the time its running around 190..I see about the same in my PSD...180 for the most part but I make her work the temps climb.
 
#9 ·
Not worth it IMO
 
#10 ·
Made my oil temps about 5-10 deg.higher and lost about 5lbs of oil press.at idle. Took it back out and truck returned to normal.
 
#11 ·
A drop in oil pressure is not always a bad thing in this case was likely the slightly warmer temp allowed it to flow with less resistance. You see the same things many times when you switch from dino 15w40 to syn 5w40. Pressure drops a bit.
 
#12 ·
I like the warmer heat. My milage went up , but I switched pcms at the same time,
I don't plan on changing back. I like the idea of a cleaner burn, nor did I expect a 50 hp gain.
If it did 5hp either direction your sop dyno will not tell. It prob takes 16 to 20 hp to make a diff in the sop dyno.
 
#16 ·
but if you have a 10 year old thermostat it might be a good time.

I could care less about the billet thermostat housing.
I recall reading somewhere that thermostats were only duty rated for 1 year use from the actual manf. After that they said you could see changes in when and at the rate they would open and close. For me they were always the kind of thing that only got changed if I had an issue or happened to be working on something that had the cover coming off and figured what the heck.

The largest benefit to the billet housing is not so much the look although its nice but that they can be reused over and over and not leak. Those OEM stamped ones can be a PITA even when new sometimes. The last one I had kept leaking at two of the bolts. Just enough that you would get a drip every 10-15 min after shut down. Had to sit there to find it as it was so slow.
 
#15 ·
great! i won't waste my time & money!
thanks!
 
#18 ·
If you have not messed with the housing at all then my bet is you are heading toward a new water pump. Mine started out as just a hint of a smell of antifreeze but no signs of any visually or any real loss. Then it went to a drop that was coming somewhere exactly as you are stating. Then it was winter and I had it plugged in. A day later I looked and the bottle was actually completely empty. I filled it up ran it but could not find any damn leak. Then I found that only when the engine was turned off after getting up to temp did it leak. Picked up a water pump and before I got it in the pump started to make the tell tale noises of the pump being eaten up.. The thing is from the first faint hint of the smell of it to the pump going completely was around 4 months and lots of miles.
 
#19 ·
My DS aluminum billet housing leaked too, just put a very small bead of Permatex around the mating surface to seal. Just a little bit, you don't want to load it up to affect operation of your T-Stat. There was a few of us that experienced leaky housings, might have been a bad batch that were made, who knows but it is a nice addition and to use it over and over. To Diesel Dan, take a close look, they are prone to leaking, stock or billet. Also, just to adds to Tarm's comment, there is a weep hole tucked up under there on the waterpump, when your WP starts to give up, coolant will weep out that hole, basiclly a warning to get a new pump in there.
 
#20 ·
My DS aluminum billet housing leaked too, just put a very small bead of Permatex around the mating surface to seal. Just a little bit, you don't want to load it up to affect operation of your T-Stat. There was a few of us that experienced leaky housings, might have been a bad batch that were made, who knows but it is a nice addition and to use it over and over. To Diesel Dan, take a close look, they are prone to leaking, stock or billet. Also, just to adds to Tarm's comment, there is a weep hole tucked up under there on the waterpump, when your WP starts to give up, coolant will weep out that hole, basiclly a warning to get a new pump in there.

That is very likely where your leak is coming from as that is where mine was. I forgot about that until Strokerstooge posted that.
 
#21 ·
I say your waterpump is on its way out. Mine went out 126k ish
The oem tstat cover is a pos, all in all but I did manage to reuse mine.
Course now I have a new leak in my new waterpump in the lower joint
I have a hard time thinking that oring seal gave out but gonnan give it a go.
Oring is far easier and cheaper.
 
#22 ·
yep,as said the hole is there to let you know your water pumps on itys way out.My buddies is doing it now so I'm changing it out for him tommarrow.They don't look to bad of a job on these 7.3's.Looks easier then the las fuel injected 460 I did.
 
#43 ·
Actually that is not why the weep hole is there. It is a side benifit of it though.

The weep hole is there so that any coolant that defeats the seal, will leak out instead of staying there in constant contact with the bearing. If it were to do that, it would wash it out and freeze it up in a hurry.
 
#24 ·
Yep that is where it is and was part of the reason I could not zero in on the exact spot ( couldn't see it). Many times you will think it must be following a joint line from the T-housing or the shaft but it ends up being that damn weep hole. IMO, as a general rule, if its a longtime running pump and you notice a coolant leak (not the rad) unless its a rusted out t-housing or a hose the pump is going tits up. Save yourself the time trying to track it down.


My suggestions:

Airtex or Bosch water pump only. I have been using the first with very good results. Stay away from all the Chinese knock offs.

Bob's 203 degree thermostat and billet housing (dieselsite)

Install a bypass coolant filters system. Again Bob sells a very nice setup. Most of the big filter manf also have kits or you DIY it.

Do a complete coolant system flush.

Switch over to ELC coolant if not already running it. CAT ELC is good for 700,000 miles (no supplement SCA needed) and IMO the best. Get the concentrate and dilute with distilled water from Walmart or grocery store. It will save you money on a flush.

Most of these pumps failures seem to be caused from the sand left over from the block casting in the coolant passages. Flush and bypass filter is the only way to handle it IMO or of course keep replacing pumps. The International T444E all came with coolant bypass filters standard likely for this reason. Ford deleted them from their 7.3 stamped version :doh:. They tend to go out (the first time) between 75K-150K from what I have seen post and personal experience. The one on my current Excursion started weeping at 76K-77K Finally went tits up at 85K.
 
#26 ·
Are the Autozone W/P's any good??? they have a brand new one, not reman for $150.00 lifetime warranty
 
#25 · (Edited)
Very well said TARM, I have the DS filtration on mine
with the install going on at about 100,000(didn't know any better) after the first filter change I had this in my filter,
after about 15,000 miles, here it is casting sand. Its safe to click on my links, no problems here..Also, another option to the pumps mentioned above are OEM Motorcrafts, they are built new and because these pumps are on our trucks from new and not having the proper filtration from the get go they get a bad name, meaning, if our OEM pumps were safeguarded by these aftermarket coolant filtration systems from the get go alot of our OEM pumps would have lasted longer, IMO.
 
#27 ·
i also already have the coolant filter bypass installed less than 500 miles ago.:evil
 
#29 ·
:whs:

When you go many brands are simply relabeled Airtex and or bosch. Car quest is Airtex but many times they have more than one offering and that is when you need to be careful . So when you go up just ask or open the box to see if its a Airtex or what.

IMO replacing a water pump without doing the bypass filter is like replacing a dusted turbo and run without air intake filter.
 
#30 ·
just put the autozone new one on my buddys truck today.Seemed like a nice pump.Would be nice if the formed gasket wasn't smashed in the box so it was still formed properly.So far the thermostat neck is not leaking.Didn't seem to get bent at all on tear down .
 
#36 ·
Do you have any more details on this IH water pump? This sounds like it may the easiest route to go if you were replacing your water pump and also wanted to add a filter at the same time.

I'll be doing a coolant system rehab soon and had not considered an IH pump. I had been considering a new Bosch pump and a Dieselsite filter kit. But the IH pump might make for a cleaner install.
 
#32 ·
Do you also have to run the shorter stem thermostat as well. But that is is actually a interesting idea Sun. You can then easily pick up the international 203 thermostats right? What do those water pumps cost? that owudl give you the bypass filtering 203 thermo all in one package. Interesting. Sounds to easy though. It never works that way for me. Its gonna cause me to throw a rod isn't it !?!. :doh:LOLLOL
 
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