Your car, truck, or C/SUV will give you some indications that the thermostat has gone bad and needs to be replaced. Cergizan’s Auto and Truck Repair can install a new thermostat when your vehicle needs one. In general terms, the thermostat will last 10 years or 100,000 miles. You may get more or less out of your vehicle’s factory thermostat. The bottom line is that you need to replace it when it goes bad as soon as possible to avoid an overheating engine that can be easily damaged by the excess heat. Let’s talk about the signs of a malfunctioning thermostat below.
Rusted Thermostat Housing
Older thermostats tend to develop leaks out of their coolant valves. The coolant valve is opened and closed to release coolant into the engine when it needs it. The thermostat reads the engine’s temperature to determine when to release the coolant. If the valve gets stuck in the closed position, coolant will seep out of it and corrode the thermostat housing. If you do not replace the thermostat when it is corroded, it will develop a larger coolant leak.
Red Spots or Puddles
This large leak will leave you with red spots or puddles on the garage floor. The coolant is leaking out of the thermostat because the corrosion ate through the metal. If your vehicle is 10 years old or older, pop the hood and take a look at the thermostat to make sure it is not corroded. This can help you avoid a larger coolant leak that will reduce the coolant level in the engine.
Unpredictable Temperatures
Sometimes, the thermostat never develops a leak. Instead, it starts to malfunction and you end up with strange engine temperatures. For example, you could be driving along and all of a sudden, your engine will get too hot. As you start to pull over, the engine cools off and gets too cold. You breathe a sigh of relief only to have the engine get too hot again.
This behavior suggests that the thermostat is misreading the engine temperatures and releasing the coolant at the wrong time. Unfortunately, the only way to resolve this problem is to replace the malfunctioning thermostat. Otherwise, the thermostat will continue to go bad and die eventually. When this happens, your engine will overheat constantly.
Cergizan’s Auto and Truck Repair in Chesterton, IN, is here to help, so call us today to set up a service appointment if you would like us to test your thermostat.