speedyxjs
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| posted on 8/10/09 at 06:56 PM |
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Cant work this out
I noticed today that my radiator was cold when the engine was warming up.
I cant figure out why but am puzzled by the fact the water pump, pumps in to the engine block and out of the reservoir, bottom of radiator, the heater
outlet and the thermostat.
Firstly, the top of the radiator is attached to the thermostat, so if the pump is drawing water from the thermostat, how can any water be getting to
the radiator?
Second, the thermostat also has a waterway where it is bolted on to the head. On the gearbox end of the head, there is another outlet that went to the
heater which i have attached to the heater outlet. If the pump is drawing from the heater outlet and the thermostat, there wont be any water flowing
through the head.
So, how do i know whether the water is flowing as it should? Other than the heater outlets, all the other hoses are connected as they should (even
checked with the tin top).
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designer
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| posted on 8/10/09 at 06:58 PM |
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The cooling system does not start circulating until the thermostat opens.
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mookaloid
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| posted on 8/10/09 at 07:00 PM |
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It's normal for the rad to stay cold until the thermostat opens, that's really why thermostats are fitted so that the engine warms up
quicker cos not all the water in the system has to be warmed up at once.
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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franky
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| posted on 8/10/09 at 07:01 PM |
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as above.
Its the same reason you shouldn't fit a oil cooler without a thermostat.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 8/10/09 at 07:06 PM |
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Mind that you don't get caught as I did - I had an airlock under the thermostat on my x-flow, so it never got hot enough to open. Ended up
blowing water out of the overflow tank...
The cure was to drill a hole in the thermostat body so that I could bleed the system properly.
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speedyxjs
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| posted on 8/10/09 at 07:16 PM |
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Just after i posted that, i thought about an airlock. Went out and unscrewed the temp sender and topped it up and sure enough, there was an air lock
quote:
The cooling system does not start circulating until the thermostat opens.
I completely forgot that how it works
How long can i resist the temptation to drop a V8 in?
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smart51
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| posted on 8/10/09 at 09:08 PM |
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A lot of cars have a heater circuit that allows water to circulate from before the thermostat back to the pump. That way, the water in the engine
warms up uniformly. Even if you don't have a heater, you could fit a small bore hose to allow this circulation.
My R1 engine also had a tiny hose from the thermostat housing, through the carbs to stop icing, to the top of the header tank. The header tank had a
hose to the water pump.
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