[alberg30] cooling systems

[David Swanson]

From: David Swanson <zira at mindspring.com>

George  -

I also have an old style A-4.  It had no thermostat in it when I bought it, but I
installed two years ago.  As plumbed, when the engine is cold, most of the water is
re-circulated through the block, with only a little going to the exhaust.  When then
engine is warm, most of the water goes through the block and straight to the
exhaust.  At no time does the water flow to the impeller get reduced.

FYI

dls
Strayaway Child
Alberg 30 #229

George Dinwiddie wrote:

> From: George Dinwiddie <gdinwiddie at min.net>
>
> Greg,
>
> If you have too low a water flow, you may damage both the impeller
> and the exhaust.  I've seen Vetus waterlift mufflers that were
> burned to a crisp by lack of water.
>
> There are "new style" and "old style" atomic 4's and the cooling
> water setup is a little different on the two.  The "new style"
> has a Holley double-acting thermostat mounted on top of the
> cylinder head.  This thermostat allows the same amount of water
> to pass all the time, but changes the ratio that is forced
> down into the head to that which passes directly to the
> exhaust manifold.  The "old style" has an external thermostat
> that mounts on the exhaust manifold outlet and allows more or
> less water to bypass the engine block completely.
>
> The "new style" should not be run without a thermostat, I'm
> told.  I currently have an "old style" head and run all the
> water through the block, resulting in a cold engine in the
> spring and fall.  In the summer, on the Chesapeake Bay, it
> doesn't seem to matter.
>
> In any event, you want to control the ratio of cooling water
> cooling the engine and the water that bypasses the engine.
> You don't want to throttle the flow of water.
>
>  - George
>
> > greg vandenberg said:
> >
> > I have what may be a silly question about cooling systems, impellers and
> > thermostats. I have an Atomic 4 that has no thermostat and is a direct fresh
> > water system. I've been tempted to install a thermostat to correct what I have
> > thought was poor fuel combustion due to the fact that the A4 was running too
> > cold. I have corrected it to some extent by reducing the flow at the seacock.
> > My question guys is this... If I slow the flow of water that the impeller
> > wants to draw from the intake am I prematurely going to wear out the impeller?
> > And secondly if I put in a thermostat which will hold up the flow entirely
> > while the engine is coming up to temperature am I prematurely wearing out my
> > impeller. Am I missing something here or just thinking to hard?
>
> --
>  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>   George Dinwiddie                                  gdinwiddie at min.net
>   The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span those hours spent in
>   sailing.          http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Alberg30/
>  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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