Thermostat--Yes or NO

Safewiz

Safewiz

Senior Member
I live in south Florida. Use my A as my daily, about 150 miles a week. Morning commute is fine. Evening is rough. Stop and go driving and slow speeds , tempertures in the 90s. Never had a problem with over heating, runs 170 to 175 . Is there any benefit to having a thermostat. I have put over 3300 miles on my car since January without a thermostat and have heard different opinions on why you should or should not run a thermostat.
 
my opinion it's fine if the water temperature runs at 170-175 degrees on a 90 degree day in traffic is good. So why do you want to tinker with it ?
 
I don't. But have heard I should so the engine would reach temperature faster and would be better for the bottom end. Didn't make much since to me since I live in an area that almost never gets cold anyway.
 
I think in your area and temperatures that you mentioned, I would not see any benefit to adding a thermostat. Keep driving and enjoy.
 
Well, like my uncle always said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just want to do all the right things to keep her in the best shape I can.
 
Safewiz said:
I live in south Florida. Use my A as my daily, about 150 miles a week. Morning commute is fine. Evening is rough. Stop and go driving and slow speeds , tempertures in the 90s. Never had a problem with over heating, runs 170 to 175 . Is there any benefit to having a thermostat. I have put over 3300 miles on my car since January without a thermostat and have heard different opinions on why you should or should not run a thermostat.
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I too live in South Florida and I don't have one.

A thermostat will keep water in the engine until it reaches the temperature of the thermostat and then allow it to get to the radiator to cool. If the water cools off too much it will close again allowing the water to heat. We don't have those cooling problems down here.
 
If you were going to be driving a lot of short trips then I would think about a tstat so the motor will heat up faster. At a 150 miles a week �� Enjoy.
 
mshmodela said:
I added a 160F stat at the bottom of the upper hose --I will say it helped...
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Which thermostat did you use for the bottom hose?
As I reported a few weeks ago, I tried two different 160 degree thermostats in the top hose and after a few miles there was a loud clacking noise coming from the thermostats and then the motor boiled.
I also tried reversing them just for peace of mind, with the same result.
The conclusion was that the Ford Falcon water pump that I am using was pumping the water the other way around, but it's since been pointed out to me that as its a centrifugal pump it must be pumping the same way as an original pump?
So I'm still keen to try a thermostat in the bottom hose as with an aluminium radiator it runs too cool all the time,
Keith
 
thermostats were designed for engines run in real cold weather, in florida I don't think that qualifies, no thermostat needed
 
Sounds like you are good to go. On my truck I put in a new radiator (Berg it is Great)
Also new water pump. Problem was flow was so good it would push coolant out the overflow. I added a thermostat and no more coolant loss. Just finished a 100 mile tour in hilly area on a 96 degree day and not a single drop lost... Yippie. Use temp gauge temp steady at 180 degrees.
 
If you are running a Model A with a good radiator, it cools the engine to much (sounds strange when you hear of so many people overheating). My A has an original radiator and ran cool, so I put a thermostat in to keep the engine temp at an even 160 degrees which makes for efficient fuel burning and you will get the most out of the engine. I also had a water pump that was throwing water out of the overflow and it stopped that also. I've run a thermostat for over 30 years and you can see it open and close as you drive it under different conditions. Just my 2 cents coming from the engine parts mfging.
 
FWIW: Model A Opinions

1. How many thermostat failures has one had in his/her lifetime, away from home, where the coolant boils somewhat, the engine severely overheats, and some type of thermostat repair on the highway is necessary?

2. One thing for sure, varied "past" human experiences usually always affect "today's" human decisions.

3. E. g., Fisherman A always carries toilet tissue in his fishing tackle box ........ Fisherman B, never.

4. Hence, both A. & B. will declare that they each have properly outfitted fishing tackle boxes.

5. Just varied correct opinions ....... but always remember ..... one different fishing experience and opinions can change?
 
I used to run a stat.
But as I have come to better appreciate just how much hotter cyl 4 walls get compared to the other 3 cyls, I no longer think it is a good idea. Cyl 4 water jacket needs all the water flow it can get, not less. Use an IR temp gun under various operating conditions and see for yourself. Henry was nice enough to have the actual left hand (driver's side) cyl walls right out there for our perusal. You will get a reading at least 20° hotter than the others, maybe even 30° after a hard run.
So, rather than impede the water flow in the water jacket, I would rather impede the air flow in the radiator by using cardboard or a piece of 1/8" plastic flat stock in front of the radiator. The stone guard hides it and besides I don't care about looks, I want it to work properly. In the cooler months here I usually end up covering up the bottom half of the radiator. You can experiment with your temp gun, or water temp gauge if you have one
 
tbirdtbird said:
I used to run a stat.
But as I have come to better appreciate just how much hotter cyl 4 walls get compared to the other 3 cyls, I no longer think it is a good idea. Cyl 4 water jacket needs all the water flow it can get, not less. Use an IR temp gun under various operating conditions and see for yourself. Henry was nice enough to have the actual left hand (driver's side) cyl walls right out there for our perusal. You will get a reading at least 20° hotter than the others, maybe even 30° after a hard run.
So, rather than impede the water flow in the water jacket, I would rather impede the air flow in the radiator by using cardboard or a piece of 1/8" plastic flat stock in front of the radiator. The stone guard hides it and besides I don't care about looks, I want it to work properly. In the cooler months here I usually end up covering up the bottom half of the radiator. You can experiment with your temp gun, or water temp gauge if you have one
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I did experiment with the temp gun, I do have a 160 degree tstat(old bi-metal,with butterfly valve), but my findings are different----from startup to long idle, to high speed the temps were within 5 degrees, most times #2 the warmest, #3 the coolest----with #4 swapping with #2 for warmest by 2 degrees
Idle temps were taken after 1 hour of idling with full retard, high speed temps taken after 20 min of 60 mph,full advance,1/4 gav, last apart 35 years before, well cleaned then, antifreeze ever since
 
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