In looking at this system my concern is growing that if the thermostat isn't working properly sometime in the future, I won't really know it and could cause the engine to start running hot. Wouldn't it be safter to just disconnect it? The car is mostly summer driven only and might see a few cold morning starts per year. Do these do anything other than aid quick warmup?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Bill

Aiding quick warmup is exactly what they do. It's better for your engine to warm up quickly. That being said I ran without a thermostat for years.

If the thermostat fails, it defaults to full cooling, so you don't have to worry about that. Disconnecting it would only prevent it from warming up quicker if the thermostat is good. If it fails it doesn't matter.

If the thermostat fails, you'll probably notice your oil becoming white and frothy from it not getting warm enough - it takes awhile for it to get to temperature without it and the blowby not getting a chance to burn off will cause that.

Not having the flaps would be very bad, the one on the 3-4 side especially as it directs air to the oil cooler. Without that one the engine may get very hot once it does warm up.

If you're worrying about type IV thermostats being NLA, it's possible to get a type I thermostat modified for type IV. Slightly different characteristics, but it will be a working thermostat.

When an engine cools after running (this is general for all ICE, not just air-cooled engines) moisture will condense inside the engine and mix with the oil (remember that water is a combustion product). Getting the engine oil up to temperature quickly boils the water out. This is why doing many cold starts and never letting the engine come up to temperature is so bad on an engine.

The flaps inside the fan shroud are ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL and should never ever ever be left out of a street 914 motor. If you leave out the one on the right side in particular, air will not be forced down through the stock oil cooler and you will have problems.

--DD

Thanks all, just what I was looking for. I had no intention of leaving the flaps out, just disconnecting the thermostat, which I won't do now after the above advice. I was just concerned it would fail in the closed mode, but I see what you're saying, it will loose it's suction or whatever and fail in the expanded state.

All good, hooked up it stays!!

Thanks