Running without a thermostat bad?
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,435
From: Alaska
Re: Running without a thermostat bad?
I put the new tstat in a pan of water and used a cooking thermometer in order to determine the temp. At 180 degrees the thermostat was fully open. I will try and put the thermostat in that I now know works and see what happens. If it still doesnt fix the problem the only thing I can think of is that either there is a small leak somewhere, the rad cap is bad, or the hoses are bad.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,435
From: Alaska
Re: Running without a thermostat bad?
Ok, i put the tested thermostat in. I now dont get any heat from the vents and the car wants to overheat. Any ideas? Everything works fine when I pull the thermostat. I am pretty sure the thermostat is installed correctly because I put it in the same way it came out. Plus when the thermostat seems like it opens the fans come on and the bubbles start flowing from the radiator cap area while the car is running and im trying to bleed the system of air.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,676
From: Melvindale, MI, US
Re: Running without a thermostat bad?
Originally Posted by Silvershark
Thanks shoebox. 
Ok, so now that I know its a bad idea.... Any ideas on what might be my problem?
The car has 129k miles on it. Here are the things that were just done.
126k miles
timing belt replaced, serpentine belts replaced, radiator flush, headgaskets replaced.
129k miles
water pump replaced, thermostat replaced.
The fans come on like they should, i can burp the system if i push on the upper radiator hose, so it looks like it is flowing through the radiator fine. I get hot air from the vents when I remove the thermostat.
I currently have the thermostat pulled because it seemed to fix the cooling problem. Any ideas what could cause this weird overheating problem?
Since I installed the new waterpump I havent tried putting the thermostat back in because im afraid its going to over heat again. If I do put the new thermostat back in and it overheats what could it be? There isnt any white smoke coming from the exhaust and the oil isnt milky looking. I have checked for leaks and I cant find any... The car is parked in my clean garage, so if there was a leak I would see it on the floor.
Oh yah, and I initially replaced the tstat with a new one from Napa because the top radiator hose was warm but the lower radiator hose was cool.
Ok, so now that I know its a bad idea.... Any ideas on what might be my problem?
The car has 129k miles on it. Here are the things that were just done.
126k miles
timing belt replaced, serpentine belts replaced, radiator flush, headgaskets replaced.
129k miles
water pump replaced, thermostat replaced.
The fans come on like they should, i can burp the system if i push on the upper radiator hose, so it looks like it is flowing through the radiator fine. I get hot air from the vents when I remove the thermostat.
I currently have the thermostat pulled because it seemed to fix the cooling problem. Any ideas what could cause this weird overheating problem?
Since I installed the new waterpump I havent tried putting the thermostat back in because im afraid its going to over heat again. If I do put the new thermostat back in and it overheats what could it be? There isnt any white smoke coming from the exhaust and the oil isnt milky looking. I have checked for leaks and I cant find any... The car is parked in my clean garage, so if there was a leak I would see it on the floor.
Oh yah, and I initially replaced the tstat with a new one from Napa because the top radiator hose was warm but the lower radiator hose was cool.
plugged radiator
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,435
From: Alaska
Re: Running without a thermostat bad?
Weirdest thing ever... I had to drill a hole in the flat surface part of the tstat. Put it in and it worked as if it was supposed to be designed that way.
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