No thermostat in thermo housing

[Bingster]

I finally removed the two bolts in the thermostat housing on my '47 Desoto. When I removed the housing, no thermostat!  Could they have run it without?

[knuckleharley]

Yes.  It's not good to run one without a thermostat because sometimes they never get to warm up properly,but a lot of people did take the thermostats out when their cars ran hot,and just never bothered to replace them.

[Eneto-55]

I know there are a lot of different opinions about doing this, but my dad always removed the thermostat in the Spring, then put it back in in the Fall.  Also ran straight water in the Summer, pretty sure.  Quit doing all of this after getting a car with A/C.

[Ricky Luke]

I've also heard that in the original Mini engine (A-series), removal of the thermostat causes cavitation in the water pump as the thermostat also slows and directs water flow. Something to consider.

Rick

[Bingster]

I fully intend to put one in. 

[Andydodge]

Apart from anything else the thermostat slows the water flow so that it stays in the radiator long enough for the radiator to actually cool the water..............that's what I've always been told and have always run a thermostat in my cars, generally a 180degree one...........my 2 oz cents worth..........andyd  

[JOHN EDGE]

Use a moroso thermostat washer. Never had a problem

[Bingster]

I'll bite.  What is a moroso washer?

[Plymouthy Adams]

believe he is referring to the restrictor plate that regualtes the flow of water to allow proper saturation of heat for exchange at the radiator.....it is a washer for no other means to describe it....I believe it is referred to by Moroso as a 'coolant restrictor'

Edited June 9, 2017 by Plymouthy Adams

[Andydodge]

An easy way to get a restrictor plate is to remove the guts of a normal thermostat so that you just have a brass plate with a hole in it..... which is just what a restrictor plate is...................it slows down the passage of water thru the radiator allowing it, the radiator to cool the water......................andyd  

[Jakub]

It was a common practice to remove thermostat for summer... My grandpa did it even in early 2000s, having a 1989 3-door Samara 1500. IMO, it doesn't make any sence - i made an experiment in my Volga one year ago - on a sunny day I drove with thermostat, then removed it and couldn't see any difference. There was a difference at night - car couldn't reach right temperature, it stopped around 50 degrees, while with thermostat it's like 85.

Also, I see no point in using a restrictor plate - it makes the same for a flow as a thermostat, but the thermostat would let the engine reach operating temperature more quickly.

 

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

thermal dynamics...move the water too fast through the block the water cannot absorb the heat from the block and carry it to the radiator to be exchanged.  If you move the water to slow then it will have the other effect of not being able to exchange the heat at the radiator because you have now gone into over saturation...this condition is most obvious and can be seen in most any car...pull off the highway from a steady long cruise at x speed....shut down the engine...watch the temp gauge rise as the water left in the block continues to absorb the heat...restart, recirculation begins, heat is exchanged at the radiator and temp returns back to normal.  to not run a thermostat (or proper restrictor) is not doing your engine justice.  Sludge will star forming inside the engine and the more frequent you make short trips...the more quickly this build up will be as you are not reaching the temp internally to evaporate moisture that is present when your block cools off at the end of a run.  The engineers went to a bit of trouble to ensure the long life of your engine , but hey, what the heck do they know?

[greg g]

Well I ran my car for about three years with no thermostat.  During the summer months it took about 10 to 12 minutes to reach and remain at 170 normally running temp.  I located a 160 degree stat and installed it.  Now it takes about ten to twelve minutes to reach its normal 170 degrees running temp. In some conditions without the stat, it would reach but not exceed 180, like stop any go traffic with air temps of 85 plus. In the same conditions with the thermostat, the same thing happens.  This leads me to believe I have a cooling system that works very well with or without a thermostat.  The only other thing of note is that I run a 70% water, 30% percent coolant mix, water being a better thermal exchange agent than propolene glycol.

[JOHN EDGE]

Emission laws also play into the need to restrict water flow and increase water temp to help achieve cleaner tailpipe emissions and  don't forget faster heating of the water for the heater and cold idle performance

[Ranger]

Back In the day, it was fairly common to run without a thermostat in the summer months. Although now it isn't a such a good idea if all systems are working properly. 

[martybose]

I ran my car for years without a thermostat; I finally put one back in just so that it would warm up faster.

Marty