Having got fed up of the fact my engine is always too cold i reasoned that the thermostat was stuck open so decided to replace it on monday before my 400 mile trek to the midlands, i pulled the old one out of my old 1.6 engine and commenced the swap into my car. Having only been shut down for 3 minutes i was stupid to think it'd be safe to start work on coolant hoses.

First thing i decided to do wrong was pull the expansion feed hose off the top of the thermostat housing,this was paintful in the fact that as i pulled the hose it was blasted off with pressure and a stream of boiling water/coolant shot up and hit the side of my face! after drying myself off and got a bit of a shuffle on and quickly pulled the thermostat front piece off,switched the 'stats over and re-assembled,followed by a quick top up of antifreeze and a bleed. then it was off to the docs to get the burn looked at (by this point i felt like my ear was on fire) The nurse but some flamazine cream around the scalded ear (rest of face/neck was fine) and covered it in a dressing

Ears healed well,got a tiny scab left but that'll be gone by sunday im guessing, then...........after reading thru the haynes manual yesterday i found that Zetec thermostats CAN be orientated 180 degrees out,which i may have done,but dont know. So i guess ill be taking it apart on monday to check. *******, but at least my temp guage is out of the stone cold zone now,even when doing 80 in neutral

Tut, tut, you should know better than that matey

Still as long as your ear is on the mend I guess theres no real harm done.

i was in a huuuuge hurry so i couldnt wait,in retrospect tho i shud have released the pressure by at least taking the cap off the expansion tank. Ah well,live and learn

If its any consolation, I once thought I could adjust the boost on the actuator on the old, red 200 after a blast down the motorway, without burning myself...

....how wrong I was - Ive still got a small scar for my stupidity

PMSL @ both of you.
Still, I guess you didnt 'do a sted'

TBH - If I can be arsed I remove my Thermostats. Guess it depends on personal choice

Remove thermostats,that basically gives a problem 10x the size of the one ive just solved,stopping your car warming up properly and making the engine run very cold once u have 80MPH winds blasting your radiator

And whats "a sted"

This was a sted



This is what happens when you investigate an engine noise in the dark with your engine still running, your alternater jumps up and bites your finger

I remember that

When i was a little younger and still none the wiser (lastyear) i put my hand on the exhaust down pipe after had done 6 fastlaps on a trackday and that hurt.

Obviously I know the pros and cons, but am talking about my 2.0s - They can run hotter than a standard engine since the coolent system is smaller. Am not bothered about passenger comfort and with no thermostat the engines oil never gets cold enough to become thick and possibly do damage.

I really cant see the benefits of removing the thermostat,ive googled it but to no avail,aslong as the engine is warm at all times tho i spose that ok.but if the engine spends most of its time below the normal temp zone then it cant be good for engine (may even get cool enough to run cold start fuelling)


Did steds finger look like that???? he's not lacking part of a finger is he?

Not another one of these topics.

Right, before you set off to the shops do you idle your car until 'normal'? I doubt it. Normal is exactly that, its the ideal engine temp since its inbetween cold and hot - We all know why to avoid those.

Plenty of people will back me up on this. Since my car is not a daily runner and will/should be driven hard around a track etc I want to keep the temps down. The escort used to run ever so slightly hot (alittle past 'normal') so I removed the thermostat. When building the fiesta I expected the same so removed it aswell.

If you look into the basics of why a thermostat is used, its main use is for passenger comfort. Without it, it simply takes the engine longer to heat up to 'Normal' - Bearing in mind, this is when the fan kicks in. You say about 80mph winds, the engine will still be getting hot and so rather than the fan dropping the temp the wind is doing it instead.

A lot of oldshool guys removed them aswel since its an extra component to go wrong. If it does, its 50/50 what it will do, the worst being over heat.

In a race car i can see it makes sense,but on a long run just feathering the throttle at 70+ i can see ur temps dropping off the bottom of the scale and as the thermostat cant close it off its just gonna stay low. But if u never plan on staying over 70,or for that matter "feathering" the throttle, then i see how it makes sense

MPH doesnt have much to do with it. If your thrashing your car then common sense tells you it will get hot quick

yeah i know. If u really are ragging it it will stay "normal" but feathering the throttle over 70 will get the temps down and down.i was merely saying that sensible dual carriageway/motorway driving will have ur car on cold start fuelling all the time,just like ive been for the past 3 months. And 200 miles per tank aint good let me tell ya

on me 130 spec moter i removed the thermostat an believe it or not it helped the running of the car. i hammered that engine mainly 4to6k revs everyday and i had no running probs with no thermostat. every car i have owned has had the thermostat binned off (apart from winter need to keep me tootsies warm)