>...and while dismantling the head, noted that
>there was NO THERMOSTAT installed at all.
>
>The engine was a perfect runner for 5 years in
>my hands and the previous owner did travel several
>thousand miles with the engine never touched.
>
>I did not have a spare thermostat and put it back
>together without one and the engine has since
>done it's job without trouble.
>
You never can tell.
The point of the thermostat is to maintain the engine temperature at an elevated
level so wear is minimised and the differential between engine coolant and the
outside air affords good heat transfer.
It is possible without a thermostat fitted to get overheating by pump cavitation
and impeller wear owing to the flow rate, or with the water flowing so fast, as
the in/out pipes are at the front usually, that the rear cylinders are by-passed
and un- cooled in an apparently paradoxical situation. It can vary between
engines of the same make, one will and one wont. Some engines even have
internal water channels/baffles to encourage flow to the rear cylinders or the
thermostat/hot outlet at the opposite end of the block from the pump.
It is well known that cars used for short trips where the designed operating
temperatures are rarely achieved have all manner of troubles owing to cold oil
with entrained combustion products whereas those used for longer runs daily seem
to be inordinately long-lived.
Encouraging lower than designed engine temperatures doesn't seem to be a good
idea, however, it is your engine.
With the block and radiator flushed, clear, and in good order why leave out an
item originally designed to be used. The poor old thermostat seems to be the
one item commonly left out or blamed for all manner of ills that it is not
responsible for, removal I have found is either a cover-up for other problems or
leads to trouble further down the line.
Vehicle and engine manufacturers are not known for philanthropic tendencies so
its interesting to reverse engineer their fitting of a valuable item such as a
t/stat.
Richard
(Southampton UK)
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