Thermostat missing from my '98 Escort

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Sat 5 May 2007 17:25
Thermostat missing from my '98 Escort - Mike St Helens
Good afternoon guys,

I have a 1998 Escort I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Im doing most of the repairs and tarting up myself... Brave ??

It was overheating slightly, ie the needle would go to red whilst driving around town, but as soon as we hit 50/70 it would go to normal. And there was no heat in the car. Thermostat I thought.

So today began the task of raplacing, NO THERMOSTAT THERE !! How could this be... why would someone do this, Have i missed a 'trick of the trade' to make the car drivable for a bit and hide another problem. Hey ho... Replaced it, even though the naughty prev owner didnt have the thermo in.. had no clip did it !! Had to go get one from uncle scrappy.

Any opinions would be great

Thanks guys.
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Sat 5 May 2007 18:06
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - stuartl
The only reason someone would take a thermostat out is it the car had overheating problems. This would make it cool the water from the first time you start the car rather than when it gets hot. It will also tend to make the heater very poor in the winter if the water stays cold.
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Sat 5 May 2007 18:08
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - stuartl
I mean't to add.......! Try flushing the system right through, reverse flushing the rad if needs be and check that the electric fan is coming on ok. If not it might be the fan or switch (or both). Refill with a good quality antifreeze/coolant and see what happens
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Sat 5 May 2007 19:50
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - bathtub tom
It was overheating slightly, ie the needle would go to red whilst driving around town, but as soon as we hit 50/70 it would go to normal.


This would suggest the cooling fan aint working.
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Sat 5 May 2007 19:51
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - bathtub tom
I meant to post:


This would suggest the cooling fan aint working.
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Sat 5 May 2007 19:53
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - bathtub tom
What's happening here? I keep losing the bit of the OPs post: {Because of the way in which you're quoting the message. Putting less than symbols before the text will make it disappear - DD}

"It was overheating slightly, ie the needle would go to red whilst driving around town, but as soon as we hit 50/70 it would go to normal."
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Sat 5 May 2007 19:55
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - Mike St Helens
Sorry if that aint clear.. I can be confusing. When im skipping around normally she overheats a bit... then when the foot goes down the temp goes down.
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Sat 5 May 2007 19:53
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - Mike St Helens
I tested it with the bridging thing... It came on OK ?

Why oh Why are things always here to try me !!!
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Sat 5 May 2007 20:10
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - stuartl
Mike.

Run the engine and let the temperature build up. The electric fan should kick in way before it hits the red. If it doesn't and bypassing the fan switch (shorting across the wires) makes it work, replace the fan switch.
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Sat 5 May 2007 20:58
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - Mike St Helens
Is it that simple ?
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Sat 5 May 2007 21:23
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - bell boy
i would check you had some vanes in your radiator
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Sat 5 May 2007 21:23
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - milkyjoe
if its running hot without a thermostat installed i would suspect a blocked rad, the stat is there to regulate the temp of water in the engine block, once it reaches just below boiling point it opens to allow the hot water to circulate the radiator but as you dont have that stat in place the water temp wouldnt reach a high tempreture....fit a new one !!! £3.99 or failing that could be a duff water pump
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Sat 5 May 2007 21:32
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - Mike St Helens
Hmmm Interesting, The whole stat housing looked as dry as the Sahara ?
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Sat 5 May 2007 23:08
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - yorkiebar
Cooling fan may or may not be working; but thats not causing the overheat!

First make sure you have coolant pumping around the system; feel all hoses as engine warms up and see if all hoses get equally hot etc or not.

Check radiator gets even warm/hot all over too.

Strognly suggests radiator/water pump problem.
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Sun 6 May 2007 11:34
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - Civic8
Does sound like pump gone,if it was working it would take ages to reach normal, if at all without stat
--
Steve
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Sun 6 May 2007 15:05
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - milkyjoe
looks like someone couldnt be bothered to change the water pump so took the stat out hoping the water would cool thru conduction or convection, might be ok in the winter months but sitting in traffic on a hot day and you could blow your gasket or a hose or two
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Sun 6 May 2007 20:10
Why would someone NOT put a Thermostat i - Civic8
>>looks like someone couldnt be bothered to change the water pump so took the stat out hoping the water would cool thru conduction or convection

Good chance they did not know what was wrong,usually when stat taken out, its because they think its stuck closed, causing the overheating.


--
Steve
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