Re: running without a t-stat

[sailor58]

quote opposedtwin:

Well…maybe I pulled it too soon. I tested the little bugger in some hot water on the stove and it appears to open and close. Still, if I couldn’t keep my hand on the housing, isn’t that too hot? Does anyone happen to know at what temp these things are designed to open? To repeat, it’s a 1959 lark.

I had the thermostat stick on my 350 Chevy boat motor on my second voyage this season. Scared the crap outta me! Just getting up on plane, the high temp alarm goes off, and what looks like smoke is coming up through the deck hatches! At first I thought I was on fire! Opened the hatch and there was a 3′ jet of steam coming out of the blow-off tube on the heat exchanger. I had my own personal fog bank of vaporized coolant around me. I threw the anchor, waited for the engine to cool enough to refill the cooling system with water, got it running again, the thermostat started working, and I motored home. Changed the ‘stat the next day.
Shared the story so that I could say," I won’t ever trust a thermostat once it has stuck."
best,
Larry