Hi Guys.I just put a new thermostat in my cars engine and temperature was reading at half way which was correct. Then we had two very hard frosts. And now it seems that the temperature gets up to half way. Does a hard frost ruin thermostats? It would seem to me the thermostat is always fully open. Advice welcome.thanks
wind.turbine,
Sep 12, 4:31am
so it gets up to half way before frost then gets up to half way after frost? seems all good to me :p
if you are worried about it, pop it out and check it is not jammed open
marte,
Sep 12, 5:14am
Cue two pages of conflicting answers, questions for more details Inc 'Colour of the car' & the 'my first car' reminiscences before everybody gives up since the OP never returned.
What fault codes did the OBDII throw up?
gph1961,
Sep 12, 5:23am
of course,what color is the horse
gpg58,
Sep 12, 5:55am
Well to answer the easy bit, never had frost ruin a thermostat myself, seems unlikely, unless no or little antifreeze in system, and a plug of ice formed in it, and wreaked it. Had new stats that failed soon installing before. Would also wonder if a bit of crap in system, has lodged under its seat, ie old gasket bits, silicon etc.
whynot47,
Sep 12, 6:25am
Thanks guys. just wondering as it does seem to be stuck open . will look soon and see
marte,
Sep 12, 6:37am
My 4 cars. 1, never had a thermostat when I bought it. 2, either stuck open or the rubber seal around it has deteriorated & is letting water past it 3, It's a MAS Thermostat, it's electricity controlled. Wrong coolant ( etc ) & the plastic legs holding the actual thermostat broke off & let it shift inside it's housing. 4, wrong coolant ( etc ) & I'm about to find out if the plastic waterpump vanes have fallen apart, or the shaft broke, since it overheats.
I read that you should always double check a thermostat before putting it in. And use the correct coolant.
trade4us2,
Sep 13, 2:42am
In certain Jaguars, they are programmed to race up to half way and stay there, regardless of the actual temperature. Jaguar had too many complaints about temperature. Some owners bypassed the code so they could see the actual temperature. This is all discussed at length in the Jaguar Forum.
socram,
Sep 13, 3:31am
I ran a 1750cc Twin Carb Allegro Equipe (don't laugh) for several years in the UK and brought it to NZ. Just like the 1300cc Allegro that preceded it, both seemed to run cool, so I blanked off the bottom third of the radiator.
That blanking stayed on for most of the year and the only time I remember the electric fan cutting in, was in a traffic jam.
Check that the thermostat is the right one, as it may be opening too early and the water is circulating before it gets up to temperature.
dlin9,
Sep 13, 8:55pm
My guess is it's the wrong thermostat which worked ok in warmer weather but now that it's cooled down outside it isn't warming up. I'd pull it back out & have a look - often has an opening temperature stamped on it
lookoutas,
Sep 13, 8:55pm
Nothing's wrong then.
lookoutas,
Sep 15, 2:57am
What the hell are you guys on about? It's reading correctly at half-way, then there's a frost and it's still running at half-way. Which means the thermostat is doing its job! What else do you want?
gpg58,
Sep 15, 6:05am
I read it as, Hi Guys.I just put a new thermostat in my cars engine and temperature was reading at half way which was correct. Then we had two very hard frosts. And now it seems that the temperature gets up to half way - ("to that temp").
marte,
Sep 15, 6:16am
Well the OP hasn't come back so just let this thread die
whynot47,
Sep 21, 12:18am
Ah ha. I took out the thermostat and lo and hehold I found a piece of gunk stuck in the valve end. it was not closing properly. Boiled it in electric jug and when open carefully cleaned out the hole where the plug fits before it closed again. it now closed correctly. fitted it back in the car and went for a ride. The temperature guage went up quickly to half way up (correct) and stayed there. Perfect. The frosts were a red herring and I dont think they were the problem. THE PIECE OF GUNK.from the gasket was. thanks for all your help and it shows sometimes we are led astray by circumstances not part of the problem
whynot47,
Sep 21, 12:19am
Hi Marte
intrade,
Sep 21, 12:32am
you better put propper cooolant as gunk should not be part of the cooling system with refractometer minus 38° to minus 42 °degrees is what antifreeye should mesure when mixed correctly 50/50
whynot47,
Sep 21, 1:37am
Thanks intrade have done
intrade,
Sep 21, 6:53pm
so basically your wrong assumption helped you to service it correctly. lets just hope there was not extensive electrolosys already taken place that nuked the whole cooling system to almost death before you serviced it. New cars cooling system are built to be paper thin shave every cent worth off in manufacturing it cheaper to compete with other onhanglow brands. old K series toyota would rot a heagsaket as its weakest link . Modern cars the whole Thing is that weak link everything is shot once you detect a problem from electrolosys corrosion. Plastics rott with wrong coolants in vw and many other makes if not absolute correct fluids are used on time before they go bad. Toyota nissan etc are not immune they no longer fit 4s fe or K engines that had material to be eaten away . The thinner you make it the faster it gets warm the lesser coolant you use the faster it gets warm to meet emissions. Only problem is the lesser coolant you have the sooner it goes bang if anything leakes out.
richardmayes,
Nov 15, 5:47pm
I had a thermostat that failed in a permanently open state once. Temp gauge was a dead giveaway, the needle never hot above "cold".
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