Quote Originally Posted by devovino View Post
When I bought my Saltare, the PO told me that "if I wanted to get better MPG, to install a thermostat" which I assumed meant there is no thermostat on my 454. She runs like a champ, never had a propblem wih her heating up, in fact I assumed the only gauge not working on the Saltare was the temp gauge, then yesterday I had 7 people and 1000 lbs ballast on the boat was running around doing some surfing, temp never registered. But once I stopped to just float and listen to the radio, I noticed the temp gauge was registering ar 150, so I now see that it works, I think the engine is always really cooled from constant flow of water. In talking to a few mechanics, they think the only real problem with this is it might never really reach a good operating temperature, and maybe run rich,does anybody else see a real problem with a really coo engine, I figure better cool than too hot! Thanks Devon
Hi Devon,

Running under the design temp is almost as bad as excessive temperatures. The parts of the engine are sized to work at a certain operating temperature range. Below or above this range, the parts will be either to large or to small for the space that are placed to work in. The engine uses a lot of steel and aluminum parts in near proximity to each other (such as bearing surfaces of the crankshaft) neither of which expand or contract at the same rate when heated or cooled. Excessive clearances between moving parts, and/or inadequate clearances between moving parts will result in less than optimal performance, excessive wear or damage to your engine.

I recomend you install the correct thermostat for your engine (and replace it every several years), and confirm that you gauge is functioning correctly. A simple test for this is to remove the senser, and while connected to the wiring (with power and ignition switch on) place the sensor into boiling water, and observe the temperature gauge response. If the gauge indicates 212 degrees F (or thereabouts) you should feel confident that the gauge/sensor is functioning and is reasonably acuright.