160 or 180 degree thermostats?

[blucar]

Old habits and the myth's that support them seem to have an after life that will not go away.
I took Auto Mechanic' during the four years I was in high school, I wanted to be a mechanic. After high school I went to work for Standard Oil in one of their service facilities. The four years of auto tech was not good enough for Standard Oil I had to go to one of their schools for six weeks before I could go to work in one of Standards facilities.
I can clearly recall the sessions on automotive cooling systems were it was stressed that the optimum operating temp for an engine was 180 degrees. One of the main reasons was to combat the formation of acids and condensation (sludge) within the engine.
The engines of vehicles of yesteryear, the 1930's/40's and 50's were all used up by the time they had 40/50 k on them.With better lubricants, higher operating temps,and better metals, engines now last in excess of 200k.