I have a 1995 4.3LX alpha one with a seawater cooling system (not closed system).
Couple questions.
If I want to remove the Tstat and do a test in a pot of water- do I really have to completely drain all the water out of the engine like my Clymer manual is telling me- it's also telling me to disconnect some hoses. If so why can't I just open the tStat housing cover- remove the Tstat and then perhaps replace the gasket when I put the Tstat and cover back on? It's the highest point so I don't think I'd have a lot of water pouring everywhere if I just take the Tstat cover off to get at the Tstat without draining the water.
Second question- I'm trying to understand exactly how the Tstat controls the water flow- I'm looking at the cooling diagrams and can't figure out how the Tstat controls water flow.
Is it true that the exhaust manifolds only get water flow from the Tstat housing when the Tstat opens?
From the diagram it looks like the engine circulating pump and the elbow risers get seawater all the time- but not the exhaust manifolds.
I was also thinking the engine block's water flow would be controlled by the Tstat- but if the circulating pump gets water all the time- how is this controlled - is the Tstat controlling whether the return/outflow from the engine block has somewhere to go?
And if the Tstat is controlling engine block flow by deciding whether to block the return/outflow from the block, isn't this hard on the circulating pump if it's always pumping but there isn't necessarily anything to pump because the flow is being blocked at the exit of the engine block by the Tstat or is really more of a pressure pump to maintain pressure?
That's it. Thanks in advance for answering these dumb questions.
Couple questions.
If I want to remove the Tstat and do a test in a pot of water- do I really have to completely drain all the water out of the engine like my Clymer manual is telling me- it's also telling me to disconnect some hoses. If so why can't I just open the tStat housing cover- remove the Tstat and then perhaps replace the gasket when I put the Tstat and cover back on? It's the highest point so I don't think I'd have a lot of water pouring everywhere if I just take the Tstat cover off to get at the Tstat without draining the water.
Second question- I'm trying to understand exactly how the Tstat controls the water flow- I'm looking at the cooling diagrams and can't figure out how the Tstat controls water flow.
Is it true that the exhaust manifolds only get water flow from the Tstat housing when the Tstat opens?
From the diagram it looks like the engine circulating pump and the elbow risers get seawater all the time- but not the exhaust manifolds.
I was also thinking the engine block's water flow would be controlled by the Tstat- but if the circulating pump gets water all the time- how is this controlled - is the Tstat controlling whether the return/outflow from the engine block has somewhere to go?
And if the Tstat is controlling engine block flow by deciding whether to block the return/outflow from the block, isn't this hard on the circulating pump if it's always pumping but there isn't necessarily anything to pump because the flow is being blocked at the exit of the engine block by the Tstat or is really more of a pressure pump to maintain pressure?
That's it. Thanks in advance for answering these dumb questions.
