Posted by CSCameron [68.228.198.56] on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 15:12:45 :
In Reply to: Regarding drilling holes in thermostats. posted by Clint Dixon [74.206.63.42] on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 14:15:04 :
Thanks Clint for bringing this back up.
I just restarted my engine today after all the work I've done recently.
I did drill a 1/16th hole in my thermostat to give it a try. Now, my thermostat is a "new" or "modern" style, not the original style. Also, my original housing was rusted to pieces, so I have the generic straight neck housing that VPW sells (no bypass).
Anyway, I noticed that my temperature would not climb up as it did "before" the hole. It took much longer to get "hot" and I am not totally sure the thermostat actually opened. If it did, the temp before and after was very close and was on the cool side. In fact, the needle never reached the "A" in HEAT on the gauge. This is after a moderate idle for over 45 minutes.
Before I drilled the hole, I could see it climb and actually see on the gauge when the thermostat opened and closed as it dropped the temp quite a bit. The needle would get almost to the high side of the white arc then would drop significantly when the tstat opened (180 degree).
Of course, the last time I ran the truck, before the hole, the outside temps were in the 90s. Today the temp was in the high 60s.
So, I'm not sure what to think about this? Maybe the 1/16th hole is too big? It might not be letting the engine get warmed up to it's ideal operating temps? What do you guys think?
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