No wonder our cars always have a reputation for overheating... we can't even
agree on how to run a thermostat! :-)
My 2 cents worth.... I had always heard the argument that the restriction was
needed to facilitate heat transfer in the motor, with less concern about
radiator heat transfer. The warnings in my old shop books about thermostat
removal always talked of high speed flow causing hot spots in the block. This
may make more sense ...
Certainly one would think that new car makers would have found a way to get
rid of all restriction in the thermostat housings (make them full free-flow
upon opening like an oil cooler thermostat) if it were desirable to do so, as
a more free-flowing and efficiant cooling system would translate to less
fan-belt drag and lighter weight radiators, thus saving money, mpg and hp,
via less drag and lighter parts... Since they spend huge amounts of time and
money looking for modest improvements in these areas I suspect they've
already considered the non-restrictive thermostat idea....
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