cheap radiator replacements? (fwd)

[treed2 at wsu.edu (T. Reed)]

> 1.  Running w/o a thermostat is a bad idea.  In most engines it
actually makes the engine run hotter - harder for the water pump to
pressurize against a big hole than a small one.

I disagree - it will make your engine run ice cold. Which is bad for other
reasons (increased fuel and oil consumption, wear, no heater output, etc)

When the engine is cold the fuel injection gets stuck in the warm-up loop
and dumps more gas in. The oxygen sensor is ignored because the FI thinks
the car isn't warm yet, and the mechanical parts in the engine don't
expand to their usual tight clearances so more oil is burned.

The VW water pump is a centrifugal type.. water enters the center of the
impeller and is "flung" outward. It doesn't do much to pressurize the
cooling system, it just keeps things moving. The pressurization is due to
the heat of the engine acting on the closed cooling system.

A normal thermostat can divert water either to a warm-up loop that goes
back through the engine again or to the radiator. It's not an open/closed
affair.. it's continuously variable. If you take it out then you're
actually creating a situation where it's possible to flow more coolant
because both loops are 100% open (100/100) instead of 50/50 or 100/0 or
0/100 or anywhere between. The result is a much cooler (frigid) engine.

-Toby