Thermostat ????

[swankey1]

I have a 63 fairlane ,and she,s running HOT! I purchased a fan shroud from Ford Obsolete ,but i wont have it for 6 to 10 days . My radiator fine,and my water pumps seems to be ok. So should i run without a thermostat or put it back in? Any suggestion would be appreciated .

Thanks
SWANKEY 1

[NZ65]

Recommendations made to me in the past was ALWAYS run a thermostat. Have you checked if the thermostat is working? A simple check to see if it is opening (although not necessarily at the right temp) is remove it and put it a pot of water and heat it up.

[bertha66]

I agree, you should always run with a stat. Your water pump may look OK, but over time the fins on the rotor in the pump will wear down and will not pump as well, so IMO you may want to change it out.

[paso_ranchero]

You can check the water pump flow by warming the car up with the radiator cap off and checking flow at idle and @2,500 rpm. If the fins are gone you won't see much change. Also check water temp just after the t-stat opens. If you are running a lot of timeing it can make the car run hot also. Harmonic balancers can slip so use a vacume gage instead of a timing light.