will a vehical operate without a thermistat?

Question

would taking out a thermistat from a hide a default from a potental buyer of a used car?

Answer 1

Yes it will operate with out a thermistat, and yes it could hide a problem from a potential buyer

Answer 2

The thermostat is a valve that opens/closes when the engine block is at roughly 195 degrees to keep the engine at that temperature. Removing it will make the engine run at full (unregulated) cooling capacity. This will make the engine run with a richer air fuel mixture, causing bad gas mileage, rapid addition of carbon deposits in the combustion chambers, and spark pug fouling. The first fouling of the plugs will make the engine run rough until the plugs are cleaned. Also, after the first tune up (and reistallation of thermostat if you decide to drive without one) the engine, once running right, will break loose the carbon deposits and foul the newly installed (or cleaned and regapped) pugs.

And by the way...you mean defect rather than default right? And further more, if you're the seller of the car in question and trying to pull one over on someone...you just plain SUCK!!! Cooling problems are most often simple to take care of. They're either a leak, a stuck thermostat (wich are under 10 bucks to replace), a clogged cooling system component (radiator or water pump) or a failing water pump, or worst of all, a blown head gasket, which you will not be able to sneak by someone too easily unless they're dumb enough to not test drive it or check the fluids. Good luck, don't be a prick, and have a nice day.

Answer 3

In most cases, this will trigger other issues that will be immediately apparent to a potential buyer.

It will run, but not very well. Engines are designed to run properly in a very narrow temperature band and pulling the thermostat will cause it to run cold. This will upset the emissions controls and cause the vehicle to run rich, possibly damaging the catalytic convertor. Cars with the OBD-II system (all cars since 1996) will throw a "check engine" light a few minutes after startup. You'll see temp sensor and oxygen sensor codes and probably others as well.

You might fool an uninformed buyer, but you won't fool a savvy buyer or mechanic. Also, this is outright fraud and if the buyer could prove that you did this deliberately they would have a case against you that "Caveat Emptor" will not insulate you from.

Answer 4

Well yes a car will operate without a thermostat, though depending upon the outside temperature, it may not run at optimal efficiency, and the heater will likely not work terribly efficiently.

The thermostat serves to maintain the engine at an optimal temperature range by admitting coolant whenever the coolant in the engine rises above a preset range. Let's say, for example, that your thermostat is designed to open at 190 degrees Farhenheit. When the coolant in the block and head reach that point, the thermostat opens to allow cooler fluid in to drop the temperature, and then closes again until the new coolant reaches that point again. Then it reopens and the cycle repeats, over and over again as you drive.

Now, by taking out the thermostat, the engine will never reach that optimal temperature as the coolant in the whole cooling system wiill circulate freely from engine to radiator and back again. Accordingly, the car will tend to run a bit cooler, and depending upon how warm a day it is, sufficiently cooler to compromise optimal combustion conditions.

Also, in the winter time the coolant in the engine will never get very warm, and since your interior heat depends of a fan blowing air through a heater core filled with hot coolant you will find that because the coolant is getting only warm, not hot, the heater will function less efficiently.

Answer 5

Thermostat is the gate keeper for cooling in the engine some 1995 and newer cars can tell and set a check engine light if the engine does not warm up in the right amount of time. Hiding anything from the next owner is a tough one! Depends what kind of overheating issue your car is having. Radatior thermostat cooling fan would'nt you feel better knowing the guy buying this car for his sixteen year old Girl can drive it safely and not break down?

Answer 6

Cars can run without a thermostat, if it's fuel injection, the mixture runs off the heat of the water, no thermostat, water stays cold, so you have a rich mixture, which may end up with gasoline in the crankcase. In an old car with a carburator it maybe hard to notice, though over years the engine block wears out fast

Answer 7

In the "old days", when I had little money for car repairs, I would frequently remove the thermostate from a car that had an overheating problem. Since I usually made short trips, this would postpone the overheating problem from occuring. I can see how someone doing this to a car they were selling might mislead a potential buyer who only took the car for a short tet drive.

Answer 8

Yes. But the for the car to run efficient and have the most power the thermostat needs to be in there. Depends on how long it has been out it may or may not have tuneup issues latter. Please use spell check next time you post.

Answer 9

like all the answerers say, not very efficiently, besides you are being less than honest aren't you? back in the days of babbitt main bearings on cars people did all sorts of things to keep them from knocking before they sold them. they would put pieces of leather belt between the rod bearings and the crank shaft for one..it worked for a while until the belt wore out ...sawdust in the crankcase was another one, i believe

Answer 10

You will runn into an over heating problem. With the water running through the engine and not having time to cool in the radiator it will boil.