Thermostat (spelling??)

[katsi]

I'm here in Southern Texas and if you haven't been here befor, stay away during the summer. It's too damn hot. Anyway, I was thinking of removing the thermostat all together. On cold and rainy days, I would take my truck so I'm not worried about cold starts. So, to my question, has anyone found a good " T " to use in place of the thermostat? The guys at Vicks Auto in Dallas actually suggested I remove it altogether here in TX.

[rlux4]

Last year I had overheating problems on a trip I took. One of the things I tried was taking out the thermostat. I used galvanized pipe fittings. An easier way would have been to drill out and remove the valve plate inside the stat.
Ron

[katsi]

RLUX4 - When you overheated, did that warp the head? The heads are alluminum aren't they? I know that other aluminum heads warp when overheated. Just courrious. I have a feeling that mine is going to be warped due to overheating from the PO. He said that he drove it on occasion but used the E brake as it was the only one that worked. It runs great , I only start it in short bursts as not to overheat but, their was little water in the system when I got it and he did say that he started it and drove it up on the trailor for transport to me. Just learning and any experience you or anyone else can convey to me is always appreciated. Maybe I should start another thread about purging the system - that is comming up next.

[rlux4]

No, I stopped and let it cool down whenever it got above about 220°. It's a long story, but let's just say it made the trip to Oregon from southern California very interesting. And long.
I changed the head gasket out thinking that was the problem (it wasn't), and the head checked out fine.
Ron

[pope]

Ron, all that and a mother-in-law in the back seat! You musta been boiling.

[rlux4]

Pope, it wasn't my mother in law, it was my mom. No way could I spend 3 days in a small car with my mother in law! Or three minutes for that matter.
Ron

[pope]

Opps! God bless the lovely lady. LOL!

[mbouse]

that reminds me.

Pope, how's your mom doing? We haven't heard from or seen her in months.

[spiderrey]

this is to simple. why dont you guys just set up your rad hoses like the spiders with the thermostat in the head, eliminte the thermostate in the hose. then you can install or uninstall the thermostate at will.

[So Cal Mark]

the purpose of the stat is two-fold; to help the engine warm up quickly and to maintain a constant temperature. Engines don't do well when operated cold, and also don't do well with fluctuating temps. You'll suffer accelerated engine wear running the engine cold and possibly create higher temps than normal if you do freeway driving. The stat acts as a restrictor even when wide open, making sure the water stays in the radiator long enough to transfer heat. At high rpm, the water can circulate so quickly that it doesn't have enough time to transfer heat to the radiator.
Replacing the stat with a tee is a really bad idea; water can bypass the radiator completely unless you block off one leg of the tee.

[TulsaSpider]

I agree with Mark on this one. I tried this back in the day, on my SB350 which they sell restrictor plates for and I had to go pretty small to keep the thing from overheating. The system is designed for a reason. If you have overheating problems there's something causing it. Have you tried the "water wetter" products? They are effective!