Originally Posted by
pando
Hi Guys,
I could do with a bit of educating.
I'm not particularly mechanically minded, but could someone explain the operation of a thermostat to me?
I was of the opinion that a thermostats sole purpose for being is to close the coolant circuit while the engine heats up, then opens when said temp is reached to cool the engine bla bla bla......
I thought that the thermostat set point had very little to do with the operating temp of the engine as it would always be above the close temp of the thermostat? I kinda (I'm guessing mistakenly) thought that operating temp would be dictated by radiator surface area and air flow, engine load, coolant condition and flow and the CSA of coolant galleries (the same could be said of the engine oil as well I guess)?
Does a thermostat open and close as driving conditions change? Once again thought it just opened at temp and stayed opened until it cooled again once the engine had been switched off, with the other parts of the circuit mentioned above being the greater contributers to operating temps?
Thanks in Advance.
Pando.
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