Thanks for all the input on the heat at speed question. All this talk has
raised another puzzle for me, in regards to the thermostat. I had always
thought that the thermostat was used to bring the engine up the normal
operating temperature as quickly as possible, and that once the opening temp
of the stat was reached that it remained in the full open position until the
engine cooled down. While talking with an automotive tech the heating
question on the Tiger came up and we began discussing different possibilities.
Then he said something that I had not thought of before...this is my
understanding of what he said...the thermostat regulates the exchange of
coolant between the engine and radiator. The thermostat holds water in the
engine until it reaches temp then lets it through to the radiator where it's
cooled. After cooled the coolant enters the engine where the t-stat restricts
the flow until the full opening temp is reached. It releases more coolant and
the process starts over. So the lower the temp of the stat the better for warm
weather driving. A higher temp stat would keep the water in the engine longer
and therefore inhibit the ability of the cooling system. I had a 180 stat in
the Tiger removed it last night and put in a 160. The test drive this morning
seems to validate his theory. Drove the Tiger for half hour off the
freeway..gauge temp stayed under 200. On the freeway, at time reaching 80mph,
the temp went to 200 and not much more. Granted it was kind of a cool
morning, but normally the temp would have been much higher. More testing
today!
Richard
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