Running without a thermostat ok?
I love these know it all engineer types and wanna be engineer types. Heat transfer is not instantaneous although non ferrous metals do perform better than iron. Now figure the difference in surface area and conductivity between the inside if the block and the inside of the tubes in a 4 core brass or aluminum radiator. Apply the wrapping function of Pi to the diameter of the dohicky. The thermostat does not have to open that fast to generate a rapid flow. The same thermodynamics that make the thermostat somewhat sluggish are also why the 1970s era temp sending unit does not respond as fast as a thermistor. The location of the sending unit in relation to the sender will also give a somewhat false reading. So you seem to be saying that a skillet should instantly fry an egg as soon as you put it on the stove.. or does it take a while to "transfer" the friggin heat?
If you have a 195 thermostat, and your car never gets above 180 on your temperature gauge, your thermostat NEVER opens.
Ever. For any reason. The temperature sending unit and the thermostat both see the same exact temperature water if the thermostat is closed and the rate of rise from the engine alone is more than slow enough to be captured by the sending unit.
So, either your thermostat is inaccurate, or your temperature gauge is.
Next. Thermal conductivity of metals (k), measured in W/(m K)
Cast iron- 55
Brass- 109
Copper- 400
Aluminum-205
So, worst case, the metals in the radiator transfer heat twice as fast as the engine does. Realistically, its better than that, because you're also talking about the surface area of the radiator, and the fact that it's a heat exchanger, which is ALSO exchanging heat with the moving air around it, not just into the metal of the radiator.
Now, if you think water travels through the radiator instantaneously, I can't help you. With the volume the water pumps on these cars put out, there will be plenty of time in the radiator to cool the water. And remember, its a CLOSED system. So, if you increase the time in the radiator, you increase the time in the engine. The two are directly related.
Realistically, you CAN'T pump the water through a regular radiator so fast that it doesn't cool with any kind of water pump that's going to fit in your engine compartment. Even if you did, think about it, you'd also be pumping the water through the engine so fast it couldn't take in any heat. Remember that the radiator is
many times more efficient at transferring heat than the engine is.
So, tell me about the time you melted down an engine and the water in the cooling system was still cold. When you do that, you can talk to me about how water is circulating through the radiator too fast.
