Mike, I don't mean to pick on you:
>... Even when fully open, the thermostat provides
>some restriction to flow--this is necessary to allow coolant circulating
>through the radiator enough time to dissipate heat. Without the
>thermostat, coolant may pass through the radiator too quickly for
>adequate heat exchange...
...but this falicy has been posted here too many times. One more time,
please people, repeat after me:
EVEN THOUGH THE COOLANT RUNS THROUGH THE RADIATOR QUICKER, IT RUNS THROUGH
THE RADIATOR MORE OFTEN. THE "MORE OFTEN" PART MORE THAN MAKES UP FOR THE
"THROUGH THE RADIATOR QUICKER" PART, CAUSING A CAR WITHOUT A THERMOSTAT TO
RUN COLD.
For those of you who would like to read more on this, may I suggest
"Thermodynamics", by Faires and Simmang, MacMillan Publishing Co. It
wasn't especially pleasant reading, but the concepts did come across.
Sorry to keep repeating this stuff, but we need to understand how things
really work if we are to fix them.
Bruce Clough
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