under-heating

[rocco16v at netzero.net (L F)]

3/16" holes??!!  TWO OF THEM???!!!
That would make it act, not like a low-temp thermostat, but as NO thermostat.
Put a new one in pronto...one with a single 1/16" hole.
:)

Larry
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: T. Reed 
  To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org 
  Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 11:02 PM
  Subject: under-heating


  After adding water and a good 10 hour charging session, my battery was
  fine for the 300 mile trip home. I'm gonna monitor it for the next few
  days and determine whether or not to replace it (I probably will to be on
  the safe side since I live out in "the boonies").

  But I encountered another problem once I got going-- the car was stuck in
  the "cold zone".. the white stripe at the bottom of the temperature
  gauge. Even after 30 miles it refused to heat up.

  I pulled over at the next town (100 miles from the departure point) and
  went to the supermarket there and asked for some cardboard. Took it
  outside and used a flathead screwdriver as a box cutter to make a
  rectangular cardboard panel that was half the width of my radiator.
  Installed it in front of the cooler side of the radiator (the battery
  side) and drove away.

  That did the trick; the car warmed up almost to the halfway mark - it
  finally stopped chugging gas like crazy and started blowing warm air in
  the interior (which was nice since it was 20 F before..)

  Why did this happen? Well, I think I drilled my thermostat out too much.
  IIRC I put two ~3/16" holes in it this summer out of frustration back when
  I was fighting the air bubbles inside the cooling system.

  The lesson is- drilling holes in the thermostat makes it behave like a low
  temp thermostat. So don't go nuts. And the second lesson is that cardboard
  in front of the radiator is a good way to (at least temporarily) get your
  car to run warmer. Especially when you're at highway speeds and the
  radiator is kickin' ass at its job.

  -Toby

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