Can you drive your car without the thermostat?

Answer 1

Yes you can. However, it is not a good idea, although perfectly acceptable in an emergency, such as if the thermostat is defective and doesn't open properly.

If the thermostat doesn't open properly, not enough coolant can flow from the engine to the radiator to cool the engine properly, and the engine will overheat.

The thermostat normally opens just enough to allow the right amount of coolant from the radiator to flow through the engine to keep it at the correct temperature. If the thermostat doesn't open enough the engine will overheat, but if the thermostat opens too much the engine will be over cooled and will not operate at the correct temperature, so the thermostat changes how far it is open in response to changes in engine load.

Running your car with out a thermostat will not cause over heating or cause your car to take longer to cool down.

If you remove the thermostat there is no control on the rate at which coolant flows from the engine through the radiator, so it will flow at its maximum rate. This will provide too much cooling and means that your car will take longer to warm up, and will never get up to the factory intended operating temperature. This will cause poor engine performance and increased fuel consumption, particularly with later model computer controlled engines.

yes but it is not good for the engine because it was designed to work at a certain temperature