John,
One thing that often gets lost in this conversation, is that while
removing the thermostat often makes the temperature gauge read lower.
But does this mean that the engine is cooler? Or maybe the water is
cooler. If the water is moving faster through the engine and doesn't
pick up as much heat, it would appear by the gauge that the engine is
cooler when in fact it may not be.
In my very humble opinion, the thermostat should never be removed from a
car during normal operation. Surely those engineers know more than I
do.
Joe Curry
John Cowan wrote:
>
> With all due respect to Trevor: Saying it don't make it so. Far from
> being debunked, the assertion that there is an optimum flow rate for
> maximum heat transfer out the radiator has received ample backup on the
> list. This thread resumes each year about the time the trees begin to bud
> and people are as passionate in their support of their analyses as they are
> support of their religious beliefs.
> I have been meaning to go to the local engineering college and look up
> "the radiator problem", which surely appears as a homework assignment or on
> Heat Transfer midterms hundreds of time each year. Stay tuned.
> John Cowan
>
> At 03:51 PM 5/13/98 -0400, you wrote:
> >
> >(Richard Triplett) wrote:
> >> (1)Don't remove the thermostat in an attempt to prevent overheating,
> >> because the thermostat does several things; it maintains the engine at its
> >> most efficient temperature, slows flow of water through radiator to ensure
> >> heat dissipation (if water flows too fast, heat transfer will be reduced),
> >
> > Although the thermostat has it's purpose, the "flowing too fast"
> >myth has been debunked many times on this list. It has no basis
> >in science.
> >
> > Refer to the archives for the meat of the discussion.
> >
> >--
> >Trevor Boicey, Ottawa, Canada.
> >tboicey@brit.ca, http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
> >[ Seeking some miscellaneous MG parts, see the list on the web page... ]
> >
> >
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
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