No thermostat!

[MOngo1970]

My heat had not been working since buying my CJ in july, and after reading about my serpintine belt (and the probable wrong pump) I figured I'd just wait until I had time to replace it...Turns out the last owner forgot? to put in the thermostat.

Should I expect any problems from this? If none, besides heat, what other benefits do I gain from running with the thermostat?

Mongo

 

[Snitty]

the engine will warm up to operating temperature much faster with one in there...

 

[graewulf]

the previous owner may have pulled the t-stat to cover up another problem with the jeep, such as overheating... i would replace it and keep a close eye on how it runs for a while... you really should have the t-stat in, it will help with your gas mileage and especially emissions to have the engine runnign at proper temperature. BTW: you don't "forget" to put a t'stat in... you do it for a reason, and many people will do it to get around some other problem that is more expensive to fix.

 

[Inspector-Gadget]

Hi-Ya MOngo,

I agree with Snitty as regards the faster engine warm-up.

In addition: there are temperature sensors on your engine which control the functioning of various pollution control gizmos. Without a thermostat, and in cooler wintertime temps, the Jeep engine might never get hot enough to trip those sensors. One possible result: the pollution control computer might always operate in the so-called "open loop" (cold engine) mode.

The computer won't actually go into "closed loop" (hot engine) mode and start doing its assigned jobs until the engine reaches the designed operating temperature.

Years ago, one could get away without a thermostat. Modern engines are typically decorated with more temp sensors than a Christmas tree has light bulbs (Oops -- I mean lamps). Generally speaking, it is not a good idea to run sans thermostat.

Regards,

Gadget

PS: Installing a thermostat might reward you with a functional heater, but we are talking Jeep-CJ here. There is no guarantee on that score.

 

[TwistedCU]

Sometimes thermostats will get stuck open or closed. The previous owner may have removed it because it was stuck closed. I would put another in, it is simple to do. Waiting forever for the Jeep to warm up and not having heat would be enough reason for me. It is healthier for your engine to run at it's normal operating temp and you might have a real problem with the windsheild icing up in snow/ice storms while driving if you don't. You can temporarily put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator if you have to to get some heat and have a defroster, but a thermostat will only take a few minutes to change, and they're only a few bucks.

 

[MOngo1970]

Thank you all! I had replaced the thermostat immediately after I found the problem, and in 24 hours (after the permatex cuerd) I was rewarded with 180 degrees of de-foggin love

I will keep my eyes open, and as important my ears, for potential problems the last owner was trying to hide, but with some of the simple mistakes I'v found...I convinced he was a she ( no offense girls ) and was not mechanically inclined.