Michael said:
>Is this normal? Could I have a car that just runs "cold"? Or, do you think
>the gauge might be out of calibration?
>I have some driving to do this summer and I don't want to risk it
>overheating.
There was some discussion while back in which I took some flack from the
list for driving around without a thermostat. It was 100 degrees at the
time, and the prior owner of the '74 Midget had taken it out when he sold it
to me, so that I would not overheat. I drove it that way for about 2
months, and still had overheating problems which I now think were related to
timing being out of whack. The A-series engines (different than the 1500)
apparently develop some severe hotspots at low revs, when there is no
thermostat.
Thermostats are cheap, don't forget the gasket. They are also easy to test
in a pan of hot water on the stove. These cars should run with the temp
somewhere in the middle of the guage. If you have a thermostat and suspect
the guage to be faulty, you could drive the car for a while with a candy
thermometer in the expansion tank. Make sure it is large enough that it
will stay in the tank.
Regards,
Charles
'74 Midget
'68 Sprite
cdsorkin@ix.netcom.com
Bloomfield, NJ
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