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Being a mechanic myself I wouldn't run the car without a T'stat, not only does it regulate the temp it does the same with flow.
With the liquid moving too fast throughout the system the heat doesn't get a chance to dissipate (heat exchange) through the radiator core and the temps continue to rise. Doesn't happen with all cars that dont have it as some water pumps can be quite inefficient at pumping, not to mention the drive ratio of drive and driven pulley setup on the front of the engine- lets not go there.
If anything, drill the centre of the inoperative T'stat out and run like that but for the price you're best off replacing it.
The engine is designed to run at a certain temp, T'stat will regulate that for you.
Tony, good chance the heater core (in the dash) has also got crap in it and is often overlooked when flushing, my suggestion would be to get some washing powder (1/4- 1/2 cup) or buy a commercial cooling system cleaner as suggested and place that into the cooling system with the heater switched on.
Run that for 5-10mins then remove a heater hose from the engine and both top and bottom hoses from radiator, run your clean water through the heater hose (preferably against the flow if possible but is not critical) and watch the crap come out.
Try and remove as much of the "flushing solution" from the engine and radiator before reconnecting your hoses and refilling the cooling system.
For the price, I'd replace the T'stat also due to the excess heat it has seen previously- cheap insurance.
Not to mention the hoses, should be able to buy a hose kit for less than $100 too.
Guessing they're the originals and are often overlooked.
Yours would be 10 years old now (assuming that yours is a 2003 VY), that's not a bad innings for hoses considering the environment they operate in.
Do you know if the heads were warped real bad or at all?
Just trying to determine how much heat the poor old engine had seen, if too hot the rings will lose their tension and the old girl will start using oil, in which case I would get rid of the car before problems like that start to surface.
Dont panic though, 90% of the time they're fine.
Just my 2c..
(Edit-took too long to write all that and a couple of posts jumped in ahead of me)..................
With the liquid moving too fast throughout the system the heat doesn't get a chance to dissipate (heat exchange) through the radiator core and the temps continue to rise. Doesn't happen with all cars that dont have it as some water pumps can be quite inefficient at pumping, not to mention the drive ratio of drive and driven pulley setup on the front of the engine- lets not go there.
If anything, drill the centre of the inoperative T'stat out and run like that but for the price you're best off replacing it.
The engine is designed to run at a certain temp, T'stat will regulate that for you.
Tony, good chance the heater core (in the dash) has also got crap in it and is often overlooked when flushing, my suggestion would be to get some washing powder (1/4- 1/2 cup) or buy a commercial cooling system cleaner as suggested and place that into the cooling system with the heater switched on.
Run that for 5-10mins then remove a heater hose from the engine and both top and bottom hoses from radiator, run your clean water through the heater hose (preferably against the flow if possible but is not critical) and watch the crap come out.
Try and remove as much of the "flushing solution" from the engine and radiator before reconnecting your hoses and refilling the cooling system.
For the price, I'd replace the T'stat also due to the excess heat it has seen previously- cheap insurance.
Not to mention the hoses, should be able to buy a hose kit for less than $100 too.
Guessing they're the originals and are often overlooked.
Yours would be 10 years old now (assuming that yours is a 2003 VY), that's not a bad innings for hoses considering the environment they operate in.
Do you know if the heads were warped real bad or at all?
Just trying to determine how much heat the poor old engine had seen, if too hot the rings will lose their tension and the old girl will start using oil, in which case I would get rid of the car before problems like that start to surface.
Dont panic though, 90% of the time they're fine.
Just my 2c..
(Edit-took too long to write all that and a couple of posts jumped in ahead of me)..................