Missing Thermostat
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,652
Likes: 80
From: Lakeland Florida
I thought the purpose of the thermostat was to hold the water in the radiator to allow the cool air to go through the radiator and cool the water down. In this way it regulates the temperature. When the water in the block reaches a certain temperature it opens the thermostat, and allows the water that has been cooled in the radiator to now flow through the system, until enough cool water has cooled the block enough to close the thermostat, which stops the flow of water, and keeps the returned hot water in the radiator, allowing the cool air to dissapate the heat and begin the cycle over again.
There must be some resistance in the water loop ( i.e. closed thermostat) to allow sufficient time for the intake air coming through the radiator to cool it down. With out the thermostat being closed, the water would continually cycle through the radiator and the amount of time it is passed through the radiator may not be suffiicient to cool it off.
kdf
There must be some resistance in the water loop ( i.e. closed thermostat) to allow sufficient time for the intake air coming through the radiator to cool it down. With out the thermostat being closed, the water would continually cycle through the radiator and the amount of time it is passed through the radiator may not be suffiicient to cool it off.
kdf
Racer
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 308
Likes: 0
From: Salem MA
from a performance standpoint a thermostat is important so that you can tune your carburator and timing curve for a specific set of conditions. because as we all know carburators and distributors are not feedback systems and cannot adapt to changing conditions. therefore keeping the engine a constant temp is an advantage in getting the most out of your car. a wandering engine temp will cause your engine to operate at less than peak performance whenever the engine temp isnt the temp you tuned it at.
and a radiator will get rid of heat at more or less the same rate no matter how fast the water moves through it.
how much heat a radiator can take out of the water in it only depends on the temp differance between the radiator and the air moving across it and how fast air is moving across it.
and a radiator will get rid of heat at more or less the same rate no matter how fast the water moves through it.
how much heat a radiator can take out of the water in it only depends on the temp differance between the radiator and the air moving across it and how fast air is moving across it.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,322
Likes: 1
From: Living in the Hartland
Originally Posted by PaulH
Thought I would jump in here. It is true that a car will run cooler without a thermostat. I did it with my 61 Merc in high school because it was overheating and I had no money. So its a fact, however personally I would never recommend this to anyone. An old GM mechanic told me years ago that it not only increase emissions, but causes excessive wear if not operating at a certain temperature. While I can't prove the excessive wear and I'm not an engineer, I do believe thermostats play a critical role in your vehicle operation.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 1,047
Likes: 3
From: CA
Originally Posted by Fevre
Any chance the stat was faulty? Not sure one case of a 61 Merc running cooler without a stat makes a scientific fact that all cars will run cooler without one.
