okay to not use thermostat

[1Gina2G]

On a rebuild I'm doing soon, I have a brand new stock thermostat, but someone told me I shouldn't have bought it and I should just leave it out since it restricts the water flow.

Alright to keep it out?

 

[doubleclutch]

I still have mine in but its gutted so it does allow for some restriction it just doesn't open or close. I've not had any issues with over heating. It does take a little bit longer to get to normal operating temperature but I drive my car in the summer only so it doesn't bother me at all and I just wait a few extra minutes before I beat on my car so its warmed up all the way.

Of course it won't overheat, when the engine gets hot it opens allowing coolant to flow. "gutting" it just makes the cooling system run full blast all the time. Not a good idea.

This is all I was trying to say. Thanks for the correction though.

Ok, you need to have an overflow....otherwise you would have to dump the coolant on the ground when it gets hot and then you would have air in your system when cools down....neither of these are good.

I suppose you could run you car without fuel injectors too. Doesn't mean it is a good idea.

Wouldnt running no thermostat keep the car from going into closed loop or take longer?

Not really, your car usually goes closed loop as soon as the cat lights off which is about 30-45 secs. Unless your on Hoth, your exhaust temps shouldn't be affected so much that it would delay cat light off just by not running a thermostat.

 

[BogusSVO]

I read somewere, that there was something bad about having the coolant always flowing with out a T-stat, something about it's not cooling the internal metal as good. So even though the guage stays in the proper range and says that you are not overheating, it will not be doing as well of a job cooling the metal inside the motor. What I mean is.. Coolant needs the pressure from the t-stat spring to get into small valleys/areas/tunnels/passages/cracks letting the coolant stay in the same area longer. Instead of just always flowing... If it is always flowing then how would it get enought pressure to push coolant into the small pits in the metal? That would be lots of small hot spots without running a t-stat.
Call me crazy, IDK just my .02

Wrong, the coolant will naturally fill in the voids in the casting.

Clooant is a liquid, not a paste

The spring on the rad cap holds pressure on the cooling system

If the coolant, is not restricted, then the coolant moves to quickly, and will not be able to pick up the heat that is built up in the castings of the head and block and move it to the heat exchanger (radiator) to be removed from the coolant.

A thermostat, is a temp. operated restriction Used to slow the coolant through the engine at diffrent tempeture levels.

A thermostat does not just snap open at its rated temp. it is a gradual opening as it reaches rated temp, then it is fully open.

A car without a thermostat can overheat if driven at highway speeds for extended amounts of time.
This happens beacuse the coolant moves too fast, and can not do its job of abosrbing heat and carring it to the radiator.

 

[mattasi]

Wrong, the coolant will naturally fill in the voids in the casting.

Clooant is a liquid, not a paste (, Yea I know coolant is a liquid, and will fill normal voids, but i am talking about the really small, small voids, think on a smaller level, the coolant will not go into those, without some pressure from the spring on the thermostat..I am talking on a very small level. Will it ruin your car, probably not, over time, with lots of small mircro hot spots, because the coolant pressure is not being held by the termostat spring? maybe.. Seems to me, that it would raise your chances of getting a bigger crack or something later on. The heat is not being takin out of the block metal very well because, the coolant can't pick up the heat in the smaller areas, it is moving to fast with not enough pressure so it can't do it's job effectly)[/

The spring on the rad cap holds pressure on the cooling system (yes I said that)

If the coolant, is not restricted, then the coolant moves to quickly, and will not be able to pick up the heat that is built up in the castings of the head and block and move it to the heat exchanger (radiator) to be removed from the coolant. (Nothing new here, you just say im wrong, saying that the coolant moves to quick. Yes if the coolant is moving to fast and with no Pressure then it can't pull that heat out of the metal, and think on a small scale, lots of small, small spots that only pressurized coolant can cool, micro hot spots.)

A thermostat, is a temp. operated restriction Used to slow the coolant through the engine at diffrent tempeture levels. (yes)

A thermostat does not just snap open at its rated temp. it is a gradual opening as it reaches rated temp, then it is fully open. (yes)

A car without a thermostat can overheat if driven at highway speeds for extended amounts of time.
This happens beacuse the coolant moves too fast, and can not do its job of abosrbing heat and carring it to the radiator. (yes)

I think we are on the same page, I guess I feel that the coolant CAN be moving fast and cool the car properly IF it could also have Pressure. I am just saying that the car needs the pressure from the spring. I'm just want people to think about why the fast coolant isn't cooling effectly on a smaller scale.

 

[DSM1G90]

T-stat acts like a throttle with restricting water flow in the block so it will pull the heat off the block more effectively.

Water speeding by the block will NOT pull the heat off the block effectively and major boilovers will result and even possible cracked blocks since that water temp is reaching 600 degrees or more.

When checking coolant, you first check the radiator, then if low, fill the radiator, then the coolant return bottle to the fill line-not all the way to the top.

On the above resloved topic: why we have T-stats so the sensors can be signalling the ECU that the system is in a closed loop for proper operation when proper temps are reached. If we take the T-stat out, the system goes into open loop and the ECU will be telling the injectors to shove in more fuel to get the block heated up to the settings that the ECU needs to see for closed loop operation. Thus, when you're driving around and the temp gauge just gets off the "Cold" line, your t-stat is stuck open and needs to be replaced.

 

[cliffkemp]

Not good to run coolant constantly...Thermostat and cap work together to keep temps in a range that is beneficial to proper engine operation. As said, the thermostat keeps the coolant in the engine/radiator longer to absorb/dissapate heat so that you have as little thermo cycle of the head/block to keep it from stressing more. The pressure part is purely the part of the cap to raise the boiling point of the coolant to ensure that bubbles will not form. Most coolant mixes are good to around 240 to 270 degrees F and upping the pressure insures that bubbles are less likely to form at hotspots within the head and engine.

Running too cool increases wear and fuel usage
Running too warm also increases wear and stress on the metal itself...This is why warmer climates tend to have longer lasting cars...in general...Use a garage

 

[MotorHead265]

If you have a gutted one or even totally eliminating it the coolant doesnt have enough time in the radiator to pull the heat from it. The coolant actually flows to fast and can cause problems with your car entering closed loop operation. If your having over heating problems it is not a good solution. Check for leaks as that could be the reason.

 

[NeWyoRksPLaYaZ]

my thermostat was stuck open and my temps would go down to about half way from normal temp and I noticed a significant decrease in gas mileage