Thermostat Cross reference.

Hello, I need to replace my thermostat in my 84 vf500 interceptor. the original one was removed by the previous owner so i do not have it as a visual reference. I would like to avoid going to Honda and spending 30 bucks when advance auto has them for around ten. Does any one know of what model / year of car, that a thermostat would work from? Its been a while since i have had her running now all i have to take care of is this running hot issue. when riding after it heats up it likes to hover around 3/4 temp. Would a lack of thermostat cause this?Or tshould i look into replacing the radiator cap as well. It doesnt appear to leak, but i have read that it can be a common culprit. Any help or advice on this would be greatly appreciated. here is a recent picture of the old girl.

 

I think I have seen a Honda Civic themostat fits but then there are so many Honda Civics who knows which model year it would be. A search should find the answer if not here then on the other V4 sites. The thermostat is just a restriction in the flow of coolant to the radiator. It helps the bike warm up faster. It's removal will not make the bike run hot. If it around the 3/4 mark when stood, that sounds normal. If it is that with good airflow throuh the rad then it sounds it might be running hot. The radiator cap just pressurises the system a bit, it wont cause the bike to run hot.

 

I appear to have answered my own question. A thermostat from a 1990 geo tracker fits perfectly. I will post the exact part number when I get home. I Installed it last night and ran the bike to temp ,never budged past three quarters as it was doing before. The thermostat I installed was a 180 degree I want to Put a 160 to see if it makes a difference. I was talking to a mechanic friend of mine and he informed me that on bikes if you remove the thermostat the radiator it is to small and cannot cool it quick enough when it comes to temp. In a car apparently it's different. Just glad I have my overheating issue resolved. Going for a ride later to really test this.

 

Your mechanic friend is misinformed. On these bikes all the thermostat does is restrict the flow to the radiator. Putting a thermostat in cannot make the bike run cooler.

 

He may be mis informed but the bike runs cooler. Much cooler and the only thing I did was install a thermostat. Any other theories are welcome. I have read a few threads on here that claim the same thing though . For this bike in particular not saying it is a universal fix.

 

Well I'm glad it appears to have fixed your problem. I can't workout how fitting a thermostat can make a engine run cooler but there you go. You live and learn. Maybe it's something to do with the time the coolant is retained in the radiator. With no thermostat the flow is unrestricted so it flows too quickly through the rad and doen't get chance to transfer heat to the air. With a theromstat the flow is slowed down even wihen the stat is open so the rad is more effective.. I withdraw my slur on your mechanic friend. It appears he is correct and I am an ass.

 

no worries it really didn't make sense to me at first , but hey nothing ever really makes sense when it comes to this bike. i would have said the same thing.

 

Im gonna chalk it it up to "fuck it" its fixed lol