Im just refitting my fan housing (type 1) and im not sure if my thermostat works I no its best to refit it if it does work but if I dont do I still need to refit my flaps in the open position as well or can I just leave them out
There was some discussion on this recently..mine is a type 4 from the states and has none as they were removed before I bought it....consensus was it didn't seem to make a huge difference other than on initial warm up which would increase engine wear in the long term. As thermostats for type 4 Aren't available and flaps like rocking horse stuff I'm doing without. Cheers Jason
Neale, to check the 'stat out, try a hot air dryer (hair dryer or similar) or steam from a kettle - this will show if it expands under warm air or not. Worked for us & proved the thermostat and flaps all worked as they should
yes I think they play an important part in allowing the engine to warm up correctly (ie not too quickly) - ours worked as they should do, we had our engine on the bench when we checked so we could see it all doing its job
I thought they let your engine warm up quicker then opened to keep it cool when running, so if not installed your engine just warms up a bit slower
The flaps have a spring that holds them open if you dont have a working thermostat, or as in my case no thermostat or rod at all. Having a working thermostat reduces engine wear and will also get heat on the heat exchangers quicker if you need warmth in you van. you can test yours with a hair dryer or put it in some hot water, I think they are supposed to open at 85C I am missing the mounting bracket, thermostat and rod and I am going to replace them. I sometimes have idling issues from the time my choke goes off and until the engine is fully warmed up and I think it has to do with my missing thermostat. Monkey Harris responded to a wanted add in the parts section on here he has some old stock thermostats and the other parts I need. PM him if you need a replacement. Dont buy one of the new style thermostats with a visible external spring, these work in a different way and unlike the original thermostats if they fail they will close the flaps.
None of mine have thermostats fitted and nothing Blew up If you want one woody there might be one in my garage with yer name on it I ll have to check first
a lot of T4 talk on here, as Zed said there was a massive thread about all this when my van was in bits, just to clear it up isn't woodster on about a upright engine? i thought you could get these parts easy enough?
Right I've refitted my fan housing with the flaps in but now my new twin carbs manifolds wont go on coz the fan housing is in the way, it looks like im gonna need a doghouse fanshroud and they dont have the flaps in them,
Having your flaps operating will get the engine warmed up quicker and long term will reduce engine wear (as most wear happens when cold). When open, they still deflect air to the right places on the heads, so good to have. As Zed says, non-operating flaps on a T4 will kill it. On a T1, you should have a dog-house shroud anyway - much better design. If it's fouling your twin carb manifolds, a bit of shroud "rework" with a hammer might be necessary. If you've got the flaps but no thermostat, you need to make sure they're permanently open. Personally, I wouldn't rely on the spring behind the fan shroud. Maybe fix the operating rod to the thermo bracket with a couple of bolts?
