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TR2/3/3A Sleeved T-Stat

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doc50

doc50

Jedi Trainee
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I have a sleeved thermostat and after reading Terri-Anne's treatise on thermostats, I now want to take it out and throw it away. Here's why:

I live in SoCal. When I start the car, it starts without choke. It runs for 3 minutes below 180 degrees. After that I never see numbers below 180. I am NOT considering a 'sleeveless t-stat...I AM thinking of letting the system free flow to give it a chance to cool better, not closing off at 180.

Why let a t-stat hold back my cooling system? (I will NEVER be in snow again...) Thoughts?

Thanks.
Thom
1959 TR3 TS34909L (O)
 
doc50 said:
...I am NOT considering a 'sleeveless t-stat...I AM thinking of letting the system free flow to give it a chance to cool better, not closing off at 180...
Click to expand...

If what you're thinking is to eliminate the thermostat completely I don't see an advantage in that. On a properly operating car the thermostat determines the minimum operating temperature -- not the maximum. Getting rid of the thermostat means it will take longer for the engine to warm up.

As for 'After that I never see numbers below 180...' -- why would you want to? Mine runs at 185° all day and that (or about that) is where is it designed to run best.
 
If everything were working properly, you wouldn't be running over 180F all the time. It should run too cool without a thermostat, even in SoCA weather. Something is wrong, and removing the Tstat is no more than a band-aid to cover up the problem.

Also, if it starts easily without the choke, your mixture is too rich. Running rich and running cold both will make it burn more fuel and wear out faster.
 
Geo Hahn said:
As for 'After that I never see numbers below 180...' -- why would you want to? Mine runs at 185° all day and that (or about that) is where is it designed to run best.
Click to expand...
Hmm, maybe I misinterpreted the comment. I took it to mean that it was always running significantly hotter than 180.

It's worth noting perhaps, that the original "sleeved" thermostat was rated 160F, but was not fully open until nearly 200F. Also, the "sleeve" was to improve cooling with the thermostat open, not reduce it. Although I'm dubious of the need for the sleeve (I run a modern sleeveless in my TR3), it seems silly to try to improve cooling by removing something that helps cooling.
 
If you want to throw it away, please through it my way. I am looking to buy one. I was taught that the thermostat also helps balance the engine cooling by not letting just the front of the engine be cool, but again a tr3 is an interesting system. They do not cool well in traffic without some modifications. They like the open road, but again where I live if I coast downhill too much in the mountains on the mountain passes the engine will cool too much and the car will die just when I did it to go back up a hill.
 
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