Thermostat or not??

[First9n]

Do ya'll run thermostats in your N tractors? I'm in Oregon, tractor gets little to no use in the winter.

 

[Jim L WA]

I use one in my 2N. Mine gets no use in our Eastern Washington winters, but I want the engine to come up to full temperature when I do use it.

 

[R Geiger]

I am in Oregon and I use thermostats in my tractors.

 

[Jim in LA]

Do ya'll run thermostats in your N tractors? I'm in Oregon, tractor gets little to no use in the winter.

Our ‘49 we acquired in ‘66 never had one or a fan shroud. Strange, most N tractors I have seen down here don’t have fan shrouds. I overhauled the ‘49 in 2022 and installed a thermostat. I did the same thing to the shroud less ‘51 I overhauled last year.

 

[Jim in LA]

Do ya'll run thermostats in your N tractors? I'm in Oregon, tractor gets little to no use in

Double post, sorry.

 

[Richard G.]

Do ya'll run thermostats in your N tractors? I'm in Oregon, tractor gets little to no use in the winter.

No thermostat or fan shroud here in NW SC.
52 8N been in the family since new.

 

[John Deere D]

Do ya'll run thermostats in your N tractors? I'm in Oregon, tractor gets little to no use in the winter.

Yes my, 1944 2N runs with an engine coolant thermostat.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

Look at a thermostat as a performance and fuel efficiency modification.
There is a reason the engineers put one there.
That said; haven't had one in our 2N since we bought it in 1983 here in Salem, Oregon and it runs like a top.

 

[OldBlue61]

When I got my 8N it had a thermostat in it. After I did the maintenance on it, it has a new thermostat in it. I saw no real reason not to put one back in, at least for me. YMMV.

 

[Btzj02]

Minnesota. Yes to thermostat.

 

[Eman85]

Henry was tighter than a crab's butt, if it didn't need something he didn't put it on.

 

[8NChris]

According to some research Continental engines the closer to 225 degrees the less cylinder wear occurs. I had access to the information at my last place of employment but have not tried to find it online.

 

[8NChris]

Here is an image I remember from the Continental book. Much more to it than this but I was only interested in the water-cooled data.

 

[8NChris]

EDIT: Heat will help evaporate the condensation inside the crank case. The warmer you run your engine the hotter the oil gets. Some of us have so much calcium in the radiator that it mimicks a thermostat and keeps it running hot without one.

 

[Non-farmer]

Yes, use a thermostat. Get a 180 degree if you can find one, Most places sell 160. 160 is still better than none.

 

[tractorguy2]

I'm in Nebraska. I use them in all my tractors.

 

[Mad Farmer]

I'm in New England and run my 9N winters. Even with the thermostat it takes a long time to warm up. No temp gauge but I can tell when it gets warm as the oil pressure drops down. If it's really cold or when warming up some cardboard over the grill helps.

If the engine does not warm up condensation will build up inside, not a good thing......

Growing up working on a farm, the old sage Farmer I worked for, always started the tractors then let them run ~ 5 minutes before working them.

 

[woodman1928]

This shouldn't be a debate question. Thermostats keep in engine at operating temps. Once you drop below the 180 mark (180 is even questionably too low) you can no longer burn off carbon properly. Cylinder rings don't seat right, oil doesn't become thin enough to penetrate into cylinder walls cross hatching hatching and protect the cylinder walls, at correct temps the oil is thin enough to form a supper thin layer inside the cross hatching due to capillary action and the The Leidenfrost effect keeps the surface oil floating just above allowing the rings to float on oil instead of the cylinder walls. When an engine is too cool the oil scrapes off the surface like a squeegee on a windshield and the rings wear on unprotected wall.

More over, exhaust gasses don't get hot enough to not condense on the cooler cylinder walls which then leak down into the crank breaking down the oil, and etching things like bearings and journals. Gasoline doesn't atomize properly casing cylinder wash and oil contamination. And .... to top it off you have lower combustion pressures and worse performance. (Higher heat higher pressures).

This is why as time went on they stated pushing cooling temps into the 220-240s and pressurizing the system. this led to engines that instead of being warn out at 100k they were warn out at 300k.

i run a 195 degree thermostat in my 41' 9n i run a 220 degree in my 85 jeep cj7 witch has 600k on the odometer and its original motor lasted just fine until i decided to rebuild at 420k because it wasn't pulling up the hills like it used to!

IF your coolant system cant handle a thermoset. fix your system. if its artificially hot due to a clogged radiator, corroded radiator, bad pump or rusty coolant passages inside the block. its only a matter of time before it gets bad enough to over heat and blow your head gasket. or cause material's expansion binding on things like valve guides to valve stems or cylinder bores to pistons!

I hate to sound pushy but people not understanding this is really Engine 101 and the #1 cause of dead warn machinery.

Thanks,
and sorry for my bluntness
Derek G.

 

[woodman1928]

Too derust your water passages run half 50/50 white vinegar / Water instead of coolant for 2-3 days are hard running. then flush with a good degreaser (power purple or something) run for a few hours then drain and flush with water and dawn dish soap flush one more time with water and refill with coolant. wont fix all your problems but should help with 25% of them.

 

[Kondoge]

Mine never had one and it’s fine, just takes way longer to get up to temp