Also remember that, like electricity, Water will take the path
of least resistance. And with no thermostat at all, this unrestrictive
path may be through the pump, to the radiator, and back to the pump. If
this were the case, the water in the block would over heat because it is
not getting circulated. This could be the cause of the over heating
when no Thermostats is installed, along with the lack of cooling time in
the radiator.
Rich
> ----------
> From: W. R. Gibbons[SMTP:gibbons(at)northpole.med.uvm.edu]
> Sent: Friday, June 13, 1997 11:55 AM
> To: Michael Fisher
> Cc: alpines(at)autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Radiator cleaner
>
> On Fri, 13 Jun 1997, Michael Fisher wrote:
>
> > Ray,
> >
> > I think I see the problem here. The thermostat does not really
> restrict the
> > flow in the sense you are talking about. With a thermostat you
> essentially
> > have two closed loop systems, one in the engine being heated and one
> in the
> > radiator being cooled. The thrmostat acts as a switch to change the
> working
> > fluid between the two closed systems, in total, then it closes again
> to
> > separate into two closed systems. That is why the engine runs
> cooler with the
> > thermostat.
>
> I was with you, right up to the last line. Yes, under ideal
> conditions,
> the thermostat cycles between open and shut, but the purpose is to
> keep
> the engine temperature *higher* than it would be if there were no
> thermostat. If you have a 180 degree thermostat, it opens at 180,
> permitting coolant flow until temp falls below 180, then it closes,
> forcing the engine to run at 180. If you have a 190 thermostat, if
> forces the engine to run at 190. If you remove the thermostat,
> coolant flow is continuous. The engine will run at a temperature
> determined by air flow, power production, etc. If the engine was
> running at 180 with a 180 thermostat, it will generally run at some
> temperature *less than* 180 without the thermostat.
>
> Most of the arguments on other lists have had to do with the situation
>
> where the engine is overheating, i.e. running hotter than the
> thermostat
> setting. In that circumstance, the thermostat should always be open,
> providing only a slight restriction to flow. It has been argued in
> that
> case that removing the thermostat will make the engine run even
> *hotter*. I doubt that, except in the case where the slight
> restriction
> posed by the open thermostat prevents water pump cavitation, or if the
>
> restriction somehow results in more even flow, or in a few cars where
> the
> open thermostat actually does redirect flow by design.
>
> WRG
>
> W. R. Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
> Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
> gibbons(at)northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8629
>
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