*Disclaimer: I am not qualified enough in mechanics to be quoted here, but let me give my 2cts* Thermostats are there to detect when temp goes beyond a limit lets say to cold or too hot. in a car its for too hot. now if you car was built fo winter it might actually have both. that is when temps are below 1.(C) to warm up the coolant and allow combustion on engine start-up. Flow restriction; as you have mentioned thermo dynamics, the little i know tells me the decipation of heat needs the temperature difference to be large, thus the flow restriction you mention. Constant flow will mean coolant will evenly warm-up and stop cooling altogether. To have it or not: I don't know? but if your thermostat is for blocking coolant flow removing it is safer than having it faulty. if you have bypassed the thermostat then you have to watch your driving to keep the engine from burning out. recall some cars use the same thermostat to protect the engine from that. Important: mechanics will always opt for the quickest / cheapest solution that will make you happy, not the right one don't fall for this famous quote "*baba hiyo hai hitajiki, tunaweza toa ndio iache kukusumbua*" {translation: "*Sir that is not necessary we can remove it so that it stops bugging you*"} Ashford K. 2009/10/30 ndungu stephen <ndungustephen@gmail.com>
Hallo all,
To the vehicle gurus... we have been having this debate after a vehicle overheated. At first we thought it was a faulty sensor, so we removed that...
Then the situation got out of hand and the mechanics advised that the Thermostat was the problem, and it is common knowledge to remove the thermostat when it comes from winter countries to our good old sub-sahara..
This overheating problem occurs in rainy or cold situations - dont know why. But never when its hot, so on a level, the mechanics could be right.
After removing the thermostat and reinstalling the heat sensor, the vehicle seems fine and does not overheat - however, I came across the article below on the net [who do we believe? experienced mechanics, or those who know why the thermostat was installed in the first place?] :
Q: Can running without a thermostat cause overheating I was told that if the water circulates too fast it will not cool properly Is this possible and how? Running your engine without a thermostat will cause it to run hot. An engine will run cooler initially without a thermostat. After that IT WILL NOT! Why you ask? Again, physics. An engine running without the restriction of the thermostat in the system (remember, even when it's wide open there's still some restriction in the system caused by the thermostat's small opening) will not keep the coolant in the radiator long enough for the radiator to 'radiate' the heat. That is, the coolant must stay in the radiator for a certain amount of time to dissipate some of the heat it has absorbed from being in the engine block. The coolant is in the block. It's hot. It moves to the radiator and gets rid of some of the heat. If it moves through the radiator too FAST, without the restriction of the thermostat body, it won't get rid of as much heat. Basic Thermodynamics at play.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_running_without_a_thermostat_cause_overheating...
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