Radiator shutter? Any pics out there? (2 Viewers)

[saryon7]

Just doing tests on my thermostat in the cruiser (180 degree thermostat) I have found that it is completely closed until approx. 185 degrees or so and then slowly opens. It only allows a little bit of water through at that point. By the time the water gets to about 200, it has opened almost all the way and is totally open at 212 degrees-boiling point. Though obviously, the coolant doesn't boil at 212 in the car because of the 12-14 pounds of pressure. According to all my textbooks, the thermostat should open at the temperature specified, but can vary by about 5 degrees without considered being defective. At the specified opening temperature, the thermostat will only be slightly open. At boiling point the thermostat should have at least 1/4" of opening.

 

[lostmarbles]

Just doing tests on my thermostat in the cruiser (180 degree thermostat) I have found that it is completely closed until approx. 185 degrees or so and then slowly opens. It only allows a little bit of water through at that point. By the time the water gets to about 200, it has opened almost all the way .....

Your experiment corresponds with what I've found in mine Saryon:

B-thermostat:


Closed/Cold:


Open/Hot:


I think some thermostats can be too sophisticated. I recently removed one from our Nissan that had a rubber seat which kept the engine too cold (verified by the dash gauge staying low) because the rubber had perished and consequently the valve couldn't close off completely. The after-market replacement I fitted had no rubber seat (just metal) and now brings the temperature of the engine up to the middle of the gauge and gets it there very fast too.

Another thing I've noticed over the years is that some thermostats have little bleed holes to prevent air-locks during filling ... And these devices could possibly be responsible for some loss of engine-heat in freezing climates.

Also some people are sloppy with their thermostat's gasket/O-ring installation so that coolant is sometimes able to travel around the edges and bypass the valve itself.

I'm not saying everyone whose temperature stays low has some cooling system fault, but my heater has so much surplus heat in sub-zero conditions (even when I'm just idling along) that it always surprises me when others say they can't even get their engines up to temperature.

These old vehicles are certainly slower to reach operating-temperature than modern ones though. Probably because the coolant capacity is approximately double (at 12.5 litres for my B-engine) with probably half of that being in the block/head/heater system.



Edit: Oopps. .... My "sub-zero" is not as cold as you may think if you still use the Fahrenheit temperature scale. (We use Centigrade here.)

And another common cause of poor thermostat performance that I've noticed is people fitting the wrong TYPE of thermostat. You'll notice that the wax-bellows in mine controls TWO valves. There's one inside the main body of the thermostat itself (that starts opening at around the specified temperature) and another that controls the coolant flow through the bottom of the thermostat housing. This lower seat/valve controls the flow through the oil cooler and cabin-heater. (I've noticed people often mistakenly fit short-thermostats to my model engine when it really needs the long-type as shown.)

 

[reddingcruiser]

What! No old big rig drivers around here? Mechanical shutters used to be common on big rigs as a way of regulating engine temperatures. They worked in conjunction with the water temperature to regulate air flow through the radiator. They had two big problems - they caused increased interior cab noise (what did you say?) when closed, and when they broke or failed to operate while in the closed position (unless you are in VERY cold conditions) overheating was inevitable. Which is why you now see exterior radiator covers on big rigs so the drivers can open or close the amount necessary to keep the engine temp operating at optimum. Remember - Cold engines do not operate efficiently.

 

[esh]

So I guess this isn't classifieds? lol

I have a couple of these that I can take some pics of when I find them. And if someone were interested in using them for restoration or just for use, you can PM me for more TECHNICAL INFORMATIONS.

 

[Drake2]

Just picked this unit up today from my friend @sisu240 along with a pallet of other stuff. I found this thread while searching for information on this oddball radiator support and "shutter". I know this thread is REALLY old but here are some pics. Almost 30 years of working with Cruisers and I have never heard of this as an option, much less ever actually seen one, until now . Hoping these pics may be of some help to someone in the future when they are searching.