| Author | Message | ||
     Buell101 |
Has anyone raced with out it? | ||
| Blake |
I've never run with one. But I also never run with a radiator.  Seems imprudent to not use one as the engine may have trouble reaching proper operating temperature, or would do so slowly. I'd keep the thermostat, especially for the cooler months. | ||
| Fast1075 |
To further Blake's advice...the engine components are designed to work at specific tolerances...an over cooling condition takes the system outside the design parameters...an I.C. engine is heat driven...modern engines are designed to run at fairly high temperatures to maintain efficiency and mechanical tolerance...an over cooled engine will wear more than one at proper temperature. | ||
| Buell101 |
understood.... I would monitor the temp and on cooler days I was thinking of foam inserts to restrict air flow (testing different density) attached in the shrouds. I do have a case of cabin fever and maybe I'm wasting my time????  | ||
| Blake |
That last thing you said. I can relate. | ||
| Stirz007 |
FWIW - once upon a time, long ago, I worked pit for some roundy rounders (dirt track). There were some guys who ran without thermostats (we're talking V8's here, but the concept is the same). The idea was to gain just a hair more horsepower by removing a restriction in the cooling system. They tried to do things like cover the radiator on cooler nights, or even run a smaller rad to try to lose some weight. Or combinations thereof. Sometimes it worked out fine. Getting the engine up to heat meant you had to heat all the coolant, not just the jacket, so it could take a while. Usually, they'd just cover the radiator to speed up the process. Me? I keep thermostat in for a couple of reasons: As mentioned, modern engines run best within a relatively narrow temperature band - that's what the stat is designed to do. The horsepower loss is minimal in exchange for better reliability and a lot less 'babysitting' the cooling system. I'd be interested in hearing your experiences if you decide to go that route, though. | ||
| Buell101 |
ahhh finally someone gives me confidence in the race forum here. I grew up at the dirt track and drag strip... then run the hose on the rads after a heat or run... and leaf blower for bikes... | ||
| Slaughter |
Something to consider is that if the coolant is moving through the system too rapidly, the heat from the engine won't transfer to the coolant as efficently - and then the reverse is true in transferring heat from the coolant to the radiator. Some systems won't cool as efficiently if the flow rate is too high. Just sayin' - | ||
| Datsaxman |
//Something to consider is that if the coolant is moving through the system too rapidly, the heat from the engine won't transfer to the coolant as efficently - and then the reverse is true in transferring heat from the coolant to the radiator. Some systems won't cool as efficiently if the flow rate is too high. // False. No coolant system circulates the stuff THAT fast. Popular belief, though. | ||
| Stirz007 |
If I remember my thermodynamics correctly, the rate of heat transfer is related to the temperature differential across the boundary. Bigger differential: greater rate of transfer. I'm sure someone has more expertise related to the topic, but a fun exercise nonetheless. At a high flow rate, the coolant time in the engine is less, but so is time in the radiator (dumping heat). But at a higher flow the ability to either absorb or dump heat would be higher, too. (higher mass flow rate). My guess is that at some steady-state condition, the system would 'balance' at some temperature, but the elegant thing about the thermostat is that it is a fairly simple device that allows the system to adapt to changes in the outside environment by throttling the coolant flow rate to dump heat as needed. | ||
| Slaughter |
Saxman - I stand corrected (but will go do my homework and post again) I had to take thermo TWICE to pass (barely) IIRC a conventional thermostat when fully opened, throttles the mass flow rate down to about half that of the chamber with thermostat removed. (Message edited by slaughter on February 14, 2011) |
