Re: Assistance with thermostat quick PLEASE!

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The black helicopters hovering over the house recorded
jbrodsky@domain.elided (Joel Brodsky) whispering:

>I put the thermostat in correctly, the problem seems to be
>that it opens at 180 and opens more at higher temps.  I  dont
>think the scout needs a 180, they come in 165 and 190, and the
>165 sounds like the one.  Talking with a few people around, and
>they say that 140 ought to be sufficient.  Well, hopefully
>tomorrow I can get another gasket, and another thermostat, and
>see what happens.

Going from memory, the IH shop manual for my 76 Scout II says the
thermostat should be fully open at like 195 degrees.  In any case,
depending on where you're operating (ambient temps), 165 may be fine for
desert climates, 180 is probably the best all around and 195 might be
appropriate for cold climates.  140 would be too cold I'd think.  You'd
probably have cold natured drivability problems if you went that cold!

>	Just as an aside, I think the direction of the thermostat only
>matters for optimum flow.  Also the temp actuator is on the water
>pump side so that it can open when the water is hot, not
>the conducted temp.  This is the biggest reason for direction on
>a stat.

This is correct... except that it certainly does make a difference which
way you mount it.  Sure the thermostat *may* work, but in some engine
designs the thermostat may not be able to open if installed backwards...
there may not be sufficient room for it to open.  With the "pellet" that
actuates the thermostat valve mounted on the wrong side, the engine will
have to get excessively hot before the thermostat opens.  You can get
"hunting" of the engine temperature when the thermostat is installed
backwards... a swinging back and forth of the coolant temperature.

Joel, have you checked to see that you don't have a collapsed upper
radiator hose?  Are you sure you have the correct thermostat... not just
one that "looks like it will fit"?  You may want to consider yanking the
offending thermostat back out and installing a different brand or worst
case a different one of the same brand.  It could always be defective.  The
"Cooling" section of the FAQ on the Binder Bulletin has the correct Stant
part numbers for the various thermostats.

Stick with 180 degrees though.  Unless you have a specific reason to change
the temp, this isn't your problem.  Don't try to fix a screwed up
thermostat by messing with the normal engine temperature.  You'll be asking
for more trouble.

Best of luck to ya,

John

------------------------------------------------------------------------
jlandry@domain.elided             |
Conservative Libertarian        |  Scout(R) the America others pass by
Life Member of the NRA          | in the Scout Traveler escape-machine.
WA Arms Collectors              |
Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   | 1976 Scout II Traveler "Patriot" model
http://www.halcyon.com/jlandry/ |     1977 Scout II Traveler (Parts)