Got to looking at my 50 1/2 ton chevy and theres no thermostat installed in the housing is this an issue, never had overheating issues but did have overflow drain out a little sometimes and i just thought i had overfilled but maybe the lack of thermostat is issue Thanks for reply Ken
My vote is "Yes" While you can certainly drive them without them, i've always found that they will get up to operating temperature quicker w/ the thermostat. Sure is a plus on cold mornings. I ran a '67 Chevy swb for a couple of years without one here in Houston because of overheating issues. It was a b*tch to keep running on both cold mornings we have annually here Of course after I got off my lazy butt and tuned it up and got the ignition timing right, she purred like a kitten, never overheated again. And yeah, I put a thermostat back in it after that. Sure did help the cold morning warm up time.
Maybe.... Do you want maximum power & effiency out of your engine ? want it to last 5 times longer ? get the most fuel economy it can ? not to fill up with sludge ? or loose the piston rings from overheating even though the gauge reads cool ? . All these and more are why you _need_ a thermostat in every engine unless it's a dedicated track vehicle . When you take the 'stat out of an overheating engine , you're killing the engine as the coolant now speeds through the water jacket too fast to pick up the excess heat , that's why the gauge reads cool . Engines run best at or just below , boiling temperature (212° F ) , even our oldies . Of course , your original cooling system was " open " or non pressurized so you canot use more than a 180° 'stat in one else it'll need water pretty much daily . When our trucks were new , it was normal to need to check the water daily and add it on a regular basis . Desert crossings were a real PIA .
Should really have one installed. Help's the engine a lot more then people think. Heat cycling the engine proper is important for long term. Plus remember a lot of your normal engine wear happens during the cold start period. The cooling system functioning proper will help that also. I need to start typing faster. Nate jumped a head of me. So I would agree like Nate said.
I Neglected To Add : ..If you have a nasty old klunker from the back fieled that's still got open cooling system and reddish goop in there , install a 160° 'stat , that's a compromise . I run a `195° 'stat in my '49 with '57 235 , it works great , even fully loaded in Death Valley it doesn't overheat but I -do- down shift and I don't overspeed the engine nor lug it...
Nate is sure right about engines needing heat. On the all aluminum engines the guys run in the pull tractor when we dyno them they put out max power after ELEVEN minutes of running with a block and heads that don't even have a water jacket. Of course they are on alcohol which has a greater cooling effect on cylinder walls and rich enough to carry alot of heat out the exhaust. It's nice to hook to the sled at about eight minutes running time because after eleven minutes and too much heat power falls off rapidly. The five engines on the tractor each use 6 gallons of alky to pull 300 feet. That figures out to 528 gallons per mile so I guess I won't complain about my Memorial weekend fuel bill.
Coilover you should try what we do over here with fuel engines and run it for a short time then shut it down and you will find the heat build up increases for quite a long time after making the engine hotter without using fuel, and taking the cost of fuel into account its a damn sight cheaper! ________ Big tits vids
I've been away for a while so now I have lots of v interesting posts to read up on, and the first one is this ... I've never been able to run my truck with a thermostat in. Every time I try one the temp gauge quickly goes way off above the H mark (I mean it physically can't go any further) and stays there except for maybe a few seconds when I come to a stop at say a light or something and it'll move back a little, then go right back up when the revs pick up. This is a 180 thermo that I've tested in a can of heating up water to see that it does open at 180. And I've checked the sender by putting it in 180 water to see that the needle gets to mp of the 'C -Temp - H' markings on the gauge. With no thermo in the engine the gauge needle never gets above the e of Temp no mater how long I run it. The engine was rebuilt over the winter, tho the water pump wasn't replaced, and I still get the same problem so I've given up and now just run without the thermo - but I'd really appreciate any any ideas on this one guys. Mel
Sounds to me like you're installing the 'stat upside down maybe .... It is possible to have badly clogged tubes in the radiator , remove the upper baffle and lay your palm flat against the core , it should be hot at the top and get progressively cooler as you slide your hand down . NOTE : temp should remain equal on a side to side basis . NOTE II : and cold spots mean clogged tubes , before you pay BIG $ to have it repaired , try mixing one or two pound of Citric Acid powder into two gallons of warm/hot water untill it's totally dissolved , fill the cooling sysytem and drive it ~ be ready for some _incredibly_ black junk to come pouring out when you drain it! . I just did this to my old Mercedes as it won't hurt the aluminum radiator , I'd de-greased then flushed the cooling sysytem untill it stayed clear on the 30 mile drive to work but this stuff made the really old silty crap in the deep recesses of the water jacket come loose ~ I hadda flush the heck out of it to remove it all... you can fill the radiator from the lower hose nipple too and observe if the water spills out of the tube equally too ~ for some reason I don't Ken , the middle tubes always plug first... You could drill some holes in the flat part of the 'stat so it'll self bleed as they often water lock as you're trying to fill the cooling system ~ small holes , 90° apart will do the trick and allow steam to escape if it ever begins to flashover . If anyone finds a place in So. Cal. where I can walk in and buy Citiric Acid powder I'd LOVE to know as it's a commodity and should cost under $1.00 the pound , I have to pay $23.00 / pound for it as I cannot find it locally ~ candy makers use it as do home canners...
Great thread! My GMC will go on up to full hot if I let it- at idle-. I forget every once in a while to push the throttle back in until I think, "Hey, this thing seems to be at a fast idle..." (Back during much cooler weather.) It would run a bit over half temp at a fast idle, but go to H in no time once I knock it down from mmmmmmmmmmmmmm to putputputputputputputput. Is this why the electric fan is a good idea, or is this about...?
