Do I need a "cardboard" thermostat?

[chuckd]

I am in the process of taking Shorty out into consistently cooler temperature.  Today was 5 degrees F when I started and warmed up to 11 when I quit.  Checking out the heaters etc, I do not want any surprises in the middle of the night in the middle of North Dakota (or nowhere depending on your point of reference).  All engine heaters working no need for the espar or ee heat.  This is good.  Now my engine heat never got much over 150 degrees F, perhaps it snuck up to 160 once.  Is this too cool, should I block some of the air going into the radiator?

TIA as always.

Chuckd

[bevans6]

What is "Shorty"?

My bus has automatic shutters on the radiators that don't open until a set temperature is reached.  You may have similar on your bus that have been disabled.

Brian

[chuckd]

Sorry Brian, Shorty is my 35 foot Prevost Liberty Conversion, will check to see if I have shutters.

Chuckd

[robertglines1]

dito on shutters. alot of them were disabled rather than maintained.also ck on your prevost and see if variable speed fan has been fixed in place with bolt.standard practice with some that run in mostly hot weather. then cardboard will be fine just watch temp.keep under 200. 

[buswarrior]

Were you driving the coach or idling it?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[chuckd]

I was driving it, drove it for perhaps 15 miles, pulled into a truck repair shop to talk "shop" and then drove about 20 miles more, mostly at freeway speeds but some 50 mph stretches as well.

Chuckd

[chuckd]

Well went looking for shutters, can't get my rear doors open easily, too darn cold, but I did check my manual, and low and behold I have shutters, not just need to figure out why the are not operating.  Thanks for the thoughts about where to look.

Chuckd

[bevans6]

On the MCI, the shutters are on the outside of the air intake for the radiators, exactly where you would put the cardboard      The MCI system has the upper squirrel cage fans and the system also has dampers that stall the airflow in the fans, but it's unlikely that your bus has anything like that.  The MCI has a "shutterstat" - temperature sensing air valve - that either sends air or doesn't send air to an air motor than moves the shutters and dampers.

Brian

[RickB]

Chuck, there is a shutoff on our mci's and I'll bet Dan or JD at C&J will know where yours is. If they still don't work or you don't have shuttof I would spray them with wd40 and disconnect the air line to them and put air directly into them using a compressor. But be really careful one your first trip with them working because if your shutterstat isn't working properly you can overheat your motor fast. I run with my shutters disconnected during the summer because I like the extra 10 degrees of safety it gives me more time to see when there is a problem.

Rick

C&J's # is 952-881-0034