Bipassing the Thermostat?

[hubeerjw]

What would happen if I bipass the thermostat? I know the engine will not come up to normal temp, but I was thinking about doing this on my drag bike? I was thinking about trying to simplify the system a bit and basicall just run coolant through the radiator all the time. I think I could plug a few ports and basically just run a hose from the water pump to the radiator and from the radiator to the engine. I would still have an overflow tank, but what all would I have to do to make this work... or do I just keep it stock?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[blankman]

Not good. An engine run without the t-stat will just keep getting hotter over time. Takes longer to come up to operating temperature and then will run hotter as the coolant is contiously circulating. Been there.

 

[RagingMain]

Not good. An engine run without the t-stat will just keep getting hotter over time. Takes longer to come up to operating temperature and then will run hotter as the coolant is contiously circulating. Been there.

Dude as long as there adequate air flow over the radiator same time there is coolant flow going through it, it cant get hotter and hotter.

It does take longer to warm up though.

 

[RagingMain]

What would happen if I bipass the thermostat? I know the engine will not come up to normal temp, but I was thinking about doing this on my drag bike? I was thinking about trying to simplify the system a bit and basicall just run coolant through the radiator all the time. I think I could plug a few ports and basically just run a hose from the water pump to the radiator and from the radiator to the engine. I would still have an overflow tank, but what all would I have to do to make this work... or do I just keep it stock?

Thanks,

Jeff

On a drag bike I think it would hurt to bypass the radiator. There are two things you have to weigh against each other.
1. The water pump is a parasitic loss on the engine. It takes power to turn it and pump the fluid. How much power it takes can only be determined on a dyno. I do know the more fluid you are trying to pump, either by pulling the T-stat or bypassing it, the more power it is going to use from the engine. We see this here at work. When one of our pumps is pumping more water (opening discharge valve further) it draws more amps. Same applies to u on the bike, more fluid you try to pump the more power it takes.
2. Proper operating temp. Jeff you know the hotter the combustion chamber the better the burn (to an extent) The better the burn the more power you are going to make.

So by bypassing the T-stat will lose more power than is worth it due to pumping losses and low temps.

The V-Max has the best of both worlds in my opinion. You can block off the large T-stat hose reducing the flow through the radiator, reducing drag on the pump, and by turning the drain valve to drain (ball bearing in top hole) you will have a small amount of flow through the radiator, enough to keep the engine nice and warm for maxium burn:eusa_dance:

Oh yeah and always follow the KISS rule. The more you mess with it the more of a chance something would go wrong. If you did want to bypass it, just remove it from the housing. Dont have to mess with any hoses letting the installed piping do its job, just with out a t-stat in the way.

 

[lankeeyankee]

You dont need a radiator on a Drgabike VMAX, my buddy who raced his VMAX took his off and drag raced it for years.
Start it up run it down to the staging lanes. Fire it up roll out do your burnout stage make your pass and come down the return road.

Weight = slower et's

You will be fine even IF you do make it down to the semi finals when less time between classes. Even hot lapped it with 2 riders.

 

[COP RUNNER]

you dont need a radiator on a drgabike vmax, my buddy who raced his vmax took his off and drag raced it for years.
Start it up run it down to the staging lanes. Fire it up roll out do your burnout stage make your pass and come down the return road.

Weight = slower et's

you will be fine even if you do make it down to the semi finals when less time between classes. Even hot lapped it with 2 riders.

man lankee , you took the words right out of my mouth !

 

[rhoke]

that is definitly the way to go lose it all. But one thing i would recommend is to fill the water jackets. If you leave them hollow the block will heat almost twice as fast. The wieght from the water in the jackets and fill is actually lighter. Its like and epoxy fill. You'll probably lose 20lbs overall.