If your car, truck, or utility vehicle has been overheating when you drive it, it’s possible that the thermostat has gone bad. This cooling system part lasts about 10 years. As such, Central Auto Care advises that if you drive an older automobile, it may be time to replace the thermostat. We are going to talk about the various signs of a bad thermostat below. Bring your vehicle to our shop right away if you are having any of these problems. We’d be happy to test the thermostat and replace it if necessary.
A Rusted Thermostat
If you take a look at your thermostat and see that it is covered in rust, it is leaking slowly. This type of problem generally happens if the valve that releases the coolant into the engine is stuck in the closed position. When this happens, the coolant seeps out of the valve and puddles around the thermostat. Consequently, the liquid coolant will corrode the thermostat housing and eat through it.
Leaking Engine Coolant
Once the coolant has eaten through the thermostat housing, you will end up with spots or puddles of the engine coolant on your garage floor. It’s never a good idea to drive your automobile if it is leaking engine coolant. Even if you top the coolant off, the levels will be too low to maintain normal operating temperature. If the coolant leak is severe, have your vehicle towed to our shop.
Odd Temperature Changes
Your thermostat may also malfunction when it goes bad. It may release the coolant into the engine erratically, and, as a consequence, you will notice strange engine temperature changes reflected on the temperature gauge. It may be that your engine will run too cold, too hot, or fluctuate erratically between the two temperatures. The thermostat is not releasing the coolant into the engine correctly.
Overheating Engine
Finally, as we mentioned above, your engine will overheat if the thermostat has gone bad. This is because the thermostat may not release the coolant into the engine at all. Your engine may also overheat if the coolant levels are too low because the coolant is leaking out of the thermostat. Generally, and engine will overheat quickly after you’ve started it with a faulty thermostat.
Call Central Auto Care in Okotoks, AB, today if you are having any of the problems listed above with your automobile. Again, we will test the thermostat and replace it if it has gone bad. If the thermostat isn’t the problem, we will find the problem and fix it.