Jonmurgie 2 Posted July 17, 2006 Now I've ditched the heater on my track car I can reduce the number of water pipes cloging up the engine bay. Looking at this pic I have a few questions: http://www.mdracing.co.uk/images/enginerem...large/pic46.jpg On the top edge of the water housing there is a pipe coming out that runs over to the top right of the header tank... does this need to be there and can I run without it? Is it advisable to continue running with a thermostat in there or can I remove that? If I have to keep a thermostat in there should I run a cooler one? And if so where can I get one from? Cheers Jon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inferno 1 Posted July 17, 2006 ive been told u can run without that pipe, but IMO its there to ease bleeding of air from the system, originaly the pipe goes from the header tank, to the gti thottle body, to that small pipe... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pug_101 0 Posted July 17, 2006 On the top edge of the water housing there is a pipe coming out that runs over to the top right of the header tank... does this need to be there and can I run without it? Thats the degas hose. It's the highest point the waters at in the engine and ensures there's no airlocks in the engine (stopping overheating) and allows the water to expand easily. I would not recomend removing it unless it is proven to work for your setup. In the photo the heater pipes are still in place, I guess you have removed these now and blocked up there outlets. The long small pipe to the rad (drivers side) is another degas just for the rad and is not normal on a lot of cars so could possibly be removed and a valve fitted in it place on the rad to make sure you can bleed the rad fully of air when you fill it with water. Not experienced with this engine, but often have to pumb engines not seen before at work so have some knowledge of the subject. Hope it's of some help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonmurgie 2 Posted July 17, 2006 Cheers Paul... yeah that picture is from when I pulled the busted Mi out and was just a good example with all the hoses there. Will see whatother people suggest as I know other cars that just have bleed screws instead of that kind of setup Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hilgie 16 2 Cars Posted July 21, 2006 I'd leave that hose there and just remove only the hoses that go to the heatermatrix. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted July 22, 2006 I'd also leave that hose there & run a hose directly from the side of the thermostat housing to the collector on the back of the block. You can get a thermostat kit from any motor factors, usually they come complete with new seals. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonmurgie 2 Posted August 12, 2006 Bumping this back up as I've been doing some more work on the car today and had another question... The water pipe that runs around the side and back of the head area and then drops down to the rear water housing, does it REALLY need to be there? Now I've ditched the heater then I don't see any reason for having to run water around there... unless I'm getting the water route workings wrong? Basically I'm getting hold of the metal rear water housing and going to have the heater matrix outlet and the outlet round to the water housing welded up. Then have the stat housing outlets to the heater matrix and to the rear water housing welded up. Can anyone see any problems with that setup? I'm going to keep a thermostat but now wondering if with a stat in there the water won't flow around the engine as well, so maybe don't run with a stat? Thoughts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy 191 Posted August 12, 2006 The water that comes out the back of the thermostat housing is by-passing the thermostat and going straight back into the block at the bottom. All removing the thermostat will do is allow the water to run continuously through the rad and the running temp will be crap, you'll use more fuel and engine wear will increase. For God's sake don't do it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonmurgie 2 Posted August 12, 2006 OK, so that's a NO to running with no stat... what about removing the extra piperun? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandy 191 Posted August 12, 2006 I'm running without the "extra" pipe run on my 1.8 16v and it's fine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Banjo 1 Posted August 12, 2006 (edited) The metal pipe on the back of the head is for the twin stage thermostat so the heater warms up first using the exhaust manifold heat, so you can ditch that! Also running without a thermostat is bad as Sandy said. Edit; I think my old mans chucked that tb elbo you wanted sorry mate. Ben Edited August 12, 2006 by Banjo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonmurgie 2 Posted August 12, 2006 Cool.. will ditch that pipe then, keeps it much neater Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted August 15, 2006 The water pipe that runs around the side and back of the head area and then drops down to the rear water housing, does it REALLY need to be there? You should be fine, most of the Mi installs I've seen haven't had this pipe & I have just removed it from one I'm helping fix this weekend as the coolant block was leaking & now its using the full 8v cooalnt pipe route with no problems. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
