I live in the Dessert is it a bad idea to Run no stat?
she runs about 190 -200 some times,would like as cool as possible?68 455

 

The object of the thermostat is to maintain and get the engine quickly to a minimum operating temperature. The cooling system as a whole is what determines the maximum operating temp.

 

Recognize cool as possible is not optimal.

 

No thermostat not the best idea
Alain

 

Coolant under 15lbs pressure will not boil(overheat) until 255-260 degrees. 195-200 is a good running temp. for a daily driver

 

Too cool causes problems of it own, I'd try a 180 stat and see how the temps go.

Good luck!!!

 

Do you know what temp thermostat is in it now? If it's a 195, drop down to a 180. If it's already a 180, either try a high-flow 180 or drop down to a 160.

My engine has a 180º thermostat and it the coolant temps stay right around 180º, unless I'm on the highway (3400 RPM) with the AC on in 110+ ambient temps, then the coolant temp climbs up towards 210-220; reducing the RPM to just under 3000 and it runs at 200º.

In the past, I tried no thermostat and the coolant stayed around 140º, which is way too cool.

 

Hey guys!
it has a 160 in it not sure if it was opening I didn’t boil it but took a torch to it probably not the brightest idea and it opened which who knows what the temperature was maybe a lot higher.
I ordered a New 160 i already put a New cap on 15 pound closed system.




15 pound cap closed system ok?

 

OK now I gotta ask, with a 160º thermostat, when exactly did it run up to those temps? In town cruising, idling in traffic, highway driving (if so what RPM), Ac on or off? Be as specific as possible.

 

Ok so just short drives around town no Ac hooked up.

 

Buy a Non-Contact Digital Laser Infrared Thermometer Temperature Gun you want 200 degrees at the block and up to 220 at the radiator. If the cooling system is up to par ( shroud clutch fan all radiator seals ) start with a 180. Compare the gauge and gun temp during warm up and write it down. Now you can get some numbers with the dash gauge. Now drive it like you own it, easy, hard, idle.

This is a starting point. Ideally you want it to stay at 200. If not you have options thermostats, radiator, gears, overdrive. Remember you have to decide how you're going to drive, highway around town and what works for you… Hope this helps keep us informed.

 

If it was a good idea to run without a thermostat, cars wouldn't come with them. It is a VERY BAD idea to run without a thermostat. No thermostat means the engine takes MUCH LONGER to warm up, and, on short drives around town, it may never warm up. That means that water that normally condenses in the oil and that gets boiled off when the engine reaches normal operating temperature never gets completely boiled off. It is not unheard of for engines run like this to have a quart of water drain out the crankcase along with the oil when the oil is changed. You do not want a quart of water in your engine's crankcase.

Engines run inefficiently when too cool. Trying to get it to run "as cool as possible" is a bad idea. Incomplete combustion leads to spark plug fouling and carbon build-up in the cylinders. An operating temperature of 190-200 is just about perfect. What are you trying to fix? Leave the damn engine alone! Don't fix what ain't broken!

 

Point taken!!!!
one day it spot out some water/antifreeze and I was worried it was running to hot.
when I said as cool as possible I meant 160-200 thanks guys I guess Im Fine.
well the car is I’m not. This covid has got me stir crazy!!!

 

I didn't mean to sound too heated (ha ha). It's just that your "problem" is common on this site. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't post about how his car that's running at 200 F is "running hot." I just want to reach out and smack him.

I had a '75 Nova with the 250 straight Six when I was in college, and for no particular reason other than it was a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon, I put a temperature gauge in it. The car was running fine, and I had no reason to suspect it was running too hot or too cold, so, since I had never known what temperature the engine ran at because I had never had anything other than an idiot light, I assumed that whatever temperature the gauge came to the first time I let the engine warm up with the new gauge installed I would take as "normal." That engine ran between 210 and 220 on that gauge for 10 years and almost 100,000 miles with never a problem before I and the car finally parted ways. When I finally did get rid of that car in 1986, it wasn't because the engine ran poorly, it was because the car was so rusty it hardly cast a shadow.

As many have pointed out on here, the 50/50 coolant under 15 psi doesn't boil until about 250 F. Why people start worrying the moment their engine's temperature touches 200 is unexplainable. Anyone familiar with thermodynamics knows that engines run more efficiently the hotter they are. Energy transfer from the fuel to the mechanical components is more efficient. Nothing is gained and much is lost by trying to lower the engine's temperature. As long as coolant isn't boiling out of the overflow tank, leave the cooling system alone.

They commonly call the dash lights "idiot" lights because... I don't really know why. But I think it's actually the other way around. Putting IN a temperature gauge turns normal people INTO idiots. Prior to having the gauge, they never knew what temperature their car's engine ran at, but because the TEMP or HOT light never went on, they never worried about it. But then they put a gauge in and started paying attention to their engine's temperature, and that's when the problems start. It's called having "too much information." Most people with an overheating "problem" don't have an overheating problem at all. They have a temperature gauge fixation problem.