Thermostat on the N52 engines?

4

4play

Member
 UK
With the N52 using an electric water pump, why did they fit a thermostat? Couldn't the engine temp be controlled by switching the pump on and off as required?
 
4play said:
With the N52 using an electric water pump, why did they fit a thermostat? Couldn't the engine temp be controlled by switching the pump on and off as required?
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The thermostat doesn't just turn the coolant supply on and off. It keeps the coolant inside the block initially, to aid faster warm up of both engine and oil. It opens once up to temperature, to circulate that hot water through the radiator. When it's closed, the pump circulates water through the block anyway, otherwise you'd end up with localised hotspots that could lead to airlocks or, in extreme cases, damaged heads or gaskets.
 
Haha, good question as this stuff is literally my job! Few reasons:
- You may want to warm up the oil or cool it despite not wanting to send coolant to the radiator
- You may want to flow the cabin heater without sending coolant to the radiator
- Even if the engine is "overall cold", you have spots that get hot before others, eg: the head gets hot before the block.

Al that means a pump that keeps running, more of less depending on temperature, RPM, load, oil temp, cabin heating demand... couple with a thermostat is required.
 
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