Mini Thermo Stat Valve

[GMI]

My 1.3 SPi got overheated last Friday and I found that the thermostat valve is not getting open up. Therefore I thought of taking the thermostat off and run without it. According to my knowledge this will delay the engine to come to its working temperature, but I’m not sure it will lead to any damages or side effects. Of course I can bare the roughness of the engine till it comes to working temperature as long as it does not lead to any damages. This thermostat suppose to open up at 88 Celsius, therefore I guess even without it, the engine will generate 88 degrees taking extra couple of minutes.

Please share your ideas.

[nira74]

My 1.3 SPi got overheated last Friday and I found that the thermostat valve is not getting open up. Therefore I thought of taking the thermostat off and run without it. According to my knowledge this will delay the engine to come to its working temperature, but I’m not sure it will lead to any damages or side effects. Of course I can bare the roughness of the engine till it comes to working temperature as long as it does not lead to any damages. This thermostat suppose to open up at 88 Celsius, therefore I guess even without it, the engine will generate 88 degrees taking extra couple of minutes.

Please share your ideas.

Even if you do replace the thermostat, it will very likely get clogged and give trouble again soon unless your engine block is very clean, cooling system perfect and you run on a high grade coolant. But knowing Mini's it's likely it will require regular topping up thereby leading to contamination of the coolant...

Most cars on the roads in Sri Lanka these days run without the Thermostat without any side-effects.

[miniace]

Overheating is a Mini problem! Always it is adviceble to remove the thermostat and run coz In SL cooling beyond 90Celcius is a huge problem in Mini cooling system.Im sure you have the additional fender mount support fan coz yours a SPi.

My advice to have a manual toggle switch to the support fan ,if you are worried about the working temp issue,which I dont see not a major issue for a A+ engine! I always run manual toggle switches!

MINIACE

[GMI]

Overheating is a Mini problem! Always it is adviceble to remove the thermostat and run coz In SL cooling beyond 90Celcius is a huge problem in Mini cooling system.Im sure you have the additional fender mount support fan coz yours a SPi.

My advice to have a manual toggle switch to the support fan ,if you are worried about the working temp issue,which I dont see not a major issue for a A+ engine! I always run manual toggle switches!

MINIACE

Thanks for sharing experience guys.

With your advice, I removed the thermostat, replaced the fan switch and connected the fender fitted fan to additionally switch on with A/C as well. I though the fan switch is not available here, but lucky I got one from Iqbal, though it‘s not operational in the specified range. That was the reason I connected the fan to switch on along with the A/C additionally. I used a power transistor to reduce the load which runs through the fan switch as well - hope this will keep the fan switch operational to its maximum lifetime. Also the transistor supported me in connecting with A/C switch.

Last night I ran about 20kms after these changes and observed that the temperature is kept constant after reaching just below 50% in the gauge.

GMI

[miniace]

Cool! Its nice to hear the systems run cool now ! Dont forget to clean up radiator next coz you ran an overheated system,check the radiator cap (buy specific 1.3 cap from Cosmic).

If you expeirienced an engine stopage due overheat encountered ,immediately change the oil and the filter!

MINIACE

[maithri]

Hi all,

It's my first post here. I am a mechanic (Technician in modern uk speak!) and a garage owner in the uk. I have a solution if I may offer it to prevent your cooling system getting contaminated and clogged. Drain and flush the system-re fill using a mix of top quality Antifreeze (Coolant concentrate as it may be called now) and Distilled water-Use at least 25% anti freeze to water and top up if needed with the same mix whenever possible. This will prevent the Aluminium in the engine and the radiator forming a powdery sulphate that eventually leads to disaster. If you remove the thermostat which is really not needed in Sri Lanka unless you live in the colder mountains ensutre that circulation is not affected as most modern thermostats are dual purpose and close as well as open circulation to different areas of the engine.

[GMI]

Hi all,

It's my first post here. I am a mechanic (Technician in modern uk speak!) and a garage owner in the uk. I have a solution if I may offer it to prevent your cooling system getting contaminated and clogged. Drain and flush the system-re fill using a mix of top quality Antifreeze (Coolant concentrate as it may be called now) and Distilled water-Use at least 25% anti freeze to water and top up if needed with the same mix whenever possible. This will prevent the Aluminium in the engine and the radiator forming a powdery sulphate that eventually leads to disaster. If you remove the thermostat which is really not needed in Sri Lanka unless you live in the colder mountains ensutre that circulation is not affected as most modern thermostats are dual purpose and close as well as open circulation to different areas of the engine.

Thanks guys. Any idea how i can clean the radiator inside cores. There is a gum base like deposits visible. Please recommend me a good hard cleaning radiator cleaner and / or a cleaning method. I used a local radiator cleaner, but it did not clan 100%.

Thanks MINIACE, I replaced the cap as well. Now the water temp is maintained just below half in the gauge. However the new cap which I purchased from Cosmic didn’t have a rubber seal to the outer cap and when I inquired they told me that UK cap doesn’t come with an outer rubber seat. But my original cap had. Without the outer rubber seat, I observed that the circulation with overflow tank was limited. I then made a rubber seat with a tube. Now everything is in order, runs with high grade coolant, except for some deposits inside radiator cores.

-GMI

[nira74]

Thanks guys. Any idea how i can clean the radiator inside cores. There is a gum base like deposits visible. Please recommend me a good hard cleaning radiator cleaner and / or a cleaning method. I used a local radiator cleaner, but it did not clan 100%.

Thanks MINIACE, I replaced the cap as well. Now the water temp is maintained just below half in the gauge. However the new cap which I purchased from Cosmic didn’t have a rubber seal to the outer cap and when I inquired they told me that UK cap doesn’t come with an outer rubber seat. But my original cap had. Without the outer rubber seat, I observed that the circulation with overflow tank was limited. I then made a rubber seat with a tube. Now everything is in order, runs with high grade coolant, except for some deposits inside radiator cores.

-GMI

Only way is to get the upper and lower tanks de-welded and cleaned by some place like radiator house (darley road). but if as you say everything is now in order and the temp gauge is below half, then there's no need to take such drastic action. Too much 'cleaning' (chemical or otherwise) could just as well expose some weak areas in the radiator piping and increase the chances of failure. As the old saying goes - if it aint broke don't fix it...

Everything should be fine provided the car is run regularly for a decent amount of time. That applies not only to the radiator but most other mechanical parts of the car.

Edited July 21, 2007 by nira74

[miniace]

Thanks guys. Any idea how i can clean the radiator inside cores. There is a gum base like deposits visible. Please recommend me a good hard cleaning radiator cleaner and / or a cleaning method. I used a local radiator cleaner, but it did not clan 100%.

Thanks MINIACE, I replaced the cap as well. Now the water temp is maintained just below half in the gauge. However the new cap which I purchased from Cosmic didn’t have a rubber seal to the outer cap and when I inquired they told me that UK cap doesn’t come with an outer rubber seat. But my original cap had. Without the outer rubber seat, I observed that the circulation with overflow tank was limited. I then made a rubber seat with a tube. Now everything is in order, runs with high grade coolant, except for some deposits inside radiator cores.

-GMI

I dont know how your tube rubber device helped the system run normal. Late Unipart filler caps dont have rubber seals.Just once make sure that your cap is a 1.3 not 1.0. System is very sensitive to correct bar.

Since your thermostat is out,now you can practically check the correct function of opening at 88 celcius.Boil it in a saucepan and check its function.check at what temperature it opens.

MINIACE

[GMI]

I dont know how your tube rubber device helped the system run normal. Late Unipart filler caps dont have rubber seals.Just once make sure that your cap is a 1.3 not 1.0. System is very sensitive to correct bar.

Since your thermostat is out,now you can practically check the correct function of opening at 88 celcius.Boil it in a saucepan and check its function.check at what temperature it opens.

MINIACE

Thanks MINIACE. I checked the radiator cap load, when buying and I rechecked now. It's same as the old one - 15 lbs.

The rubber tube gave a tight seal between the cap and the radiator (outer), which facilitated smooth circulation of coolant back and forth with the overflow/extra tank. This was very much evident, as there is coolant filled to top every time I check the radiator level. All in all with lot of experiments though your opinions resulted me a smooth functional cooling system now.

Thanks

-GMI

[miniace]

Thanks MINIACE. All in all with lot of experiments though your opinions resulted me a smooth functional cooling system now.Thanks

-GMI

Cool! lets party then

MINIACE

[GMI]

Even if you do replace the thermostat, it will very likely get clogged and give trouble again soon unless your engine block is very clean, cooling system perfect and you run on a high grade coolant. But knowing Mini's it's likely it will require regular topping up thereby leading to contamination of the coolant...

Most cars on the roads in Sri Lanka these days run without the Thermostat without any side-effects.

Hi,

I'm still in the process of doing experiments with my MINI's hydro cooling system.

Here I though of re-commenting on Thermostat valve... In SL lot of MINI veterans run without the thermo stat valve. However I read on web that, running without a Thermostat valve or a Blanking Sleeve, will reduce the water circulation around cylinder 3 and 4. More reliable resources advices to use either a 74 degree Thermostat or a Blanking Sleeve and never to run without a Thermostat. They recommend to use a Blanking Sleeve for fast road cars or for racing.

I immediately I forced opened (made it to be opened always) my faulty 88 degree Thermostat and fixed back till I get the 74 degree Thermostat next week.

-GMI

[nira74]

Hi,

I'm still in the process of doing experiments with my MINI's hydro cooling system.

Here I though of re-commenting on Thermostat valve... In SL lot of MINI veterans run without the thermo stat valve. However I read on web that, running without a Thermostat valve or a Blanking Sleeve, will reduce the water circulation around cylinder 3 and 4. More reliable resources advices to use either a 74 degree Thermostat or a Blanking Sleeve and never to run without a Thermostat. They recommend to use a Blanking Sleeve for fast road cars or for racing.

I immediately I forced opened (made it to be opened always) my faulty 88 degree Thermostat and fixed back till I get the 74 degree Thermostat next week.

-GMI

Thats a useful piece of info. That means that the extra pressure created by the valve even when open actually helps with circulation. Shall do a little more research on the subject.

[miniace]

Hi,

However I read on web that, running without a Thermostat valve or a Blanking Sleeve, will reduce the water circulation around cylinder 3 and 4.

-GMI

Hey GMI,Thanks for the info.This is a very shocking news to me.I was not aware of it.Please find me the link for this article.Must find out more about this.Thanks again mate!

MINIACE