Brad,
Well, now that you put an attractive, bikini-clad woman into the equation, I
have to agree with you completely. But does it really buy you an extra five
minutes? Maybe you're using heavy water (D2O)? I just sort of figured if
you were maintaining 170F while moving, you could at least keep it below
215F or so at an idle. Maybe your fire breathing monster won't idle below
2000 rpm? Maybe you call Quest Cooling and get an electric fan so you can
increase your hang time to ten or fifteen minutes. The six blade Ford fan
works even better if you have room and don't mind a little parasitic power loss.
Who knows what they were thinking when they wrote the manual. Do they give
the same advice for the Alpines? I don't think Ford recommended changing
thermostats twice a year for Mustangs, etc. that used the Windsor motors
back then, and I think virtually every car sold these days has a 195F
thermostat. They also use 50/50 coolant mixture and 15 or 16 psig caps,
which may not have been the case in '64. Here's a trivia question. What
cap and coolant configuration were Tigers originally sold with?
Bob
> The reason I go with the 160F thermostat is that my "equilibrium
>state" varies from 170F at highway speeds to meltdown at a stand still.
>In Orlando Florida, where I do most of my driving in town or on country
>lanes my speed varies across the full range and tends to come in chunks.
>Thus I need the termal mass of the engine, water and radiator to smooth
>out what's happening. During a typical drive I'm Bombing along at 170F
>and come to an unshaded intersection with a attractive hot dog vendor in
>a bikini on the corner. The pick up in front of me at the light tries
>to take a turn (for hot dogs?) but gets his bassboat trailer jackknifed
>in the process. Since I was @ 170F I've got the 5 minutes to enjoy the
>scenery and chuckle at the escapade while the boys work out there
>problem. At 200F I have to Jump the median or become part of the
>debacle. So it depends on the environment you drive in. In Florida
>where its hot and we have hot dogs 160F gives us time to relax and
>enjoy.
>
> I suspect the this thermal mass effect is why the manual
>suggests 160F in the summer - buys a time cushion.
> .> 1) The shop manual recommends a 160F thermostat for summer
>and a 190
>> for winter.
>> YUP.
>>
>> >>2) A 160F thermostat starts to open at 160 and is fully open at 180.
>>
>> A 195F starts to open at 195 and is completely open at 215. If
>> you are
>>
>> worried about a marginal cooling system which one would you
>> choose,
>> 160 or 195?
>> This has always puzzled me. The operation of the engine produces a
>> finite
>> amount of heat. The cooling system of the engine dissipates a finite
>> amount of heat. The combination of the, in time, two results in a
>> stable
>> point of equilibrated temperature. That is, engine temperature,
>> wherever it
>> is measured, remains constant. It is the point at which heat
>> generated
>> equals heat lost.
>>
>> Now, suppose that temperature equilibrium is 185F. Then the 160F
>> thermostat is fully open. The temperature remains at 185F, since that
>> is
>> the point at which heat generated equals heat lost. Now put the 190F
>> thermostat in. It doesn't open. Heat builds up, the 190F thermostat
>> opens,
>> and cooling proceeds -- until temperature drops and the 190F
>> thermostat
>> begins closing again. The engine can thus be made to run warmer with
>> a
>> high-temp thermostat.
>>
>> That is all fine and good. But the engine that runs too hot will not
>> benefit from the low temperature thermostat. If the equilibrium
>> temperature the of engine and cooling system is 215F, both the
>> high-temp
>> thermostat and low-temp thermostat are fully open. And even though
>> the
>> low-temp unit opens sooner, the system temperature will continue to
>> rise
>> until reaching equilibrium temperature.
>>
>> >>3) Changing a thermostat is the cheapest change you can make, less
>> than $5.00. If it doesn't work, put the 195 back in and you are
>> not
>> out of too much $$$.
>> YUP. And if this works, I suspect the 195 was malfunctioning.
>>
>> But hey! What do I know?
>>
>> Eddy - B382002639
>>
>
>
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