Why thermostat fail

If your thermostat keeps losing these settings, it could indicate a need for thermostat replacement. Thermostat Troubleshooting Check the screen: Check the screen of the thermostat and make sure that it is lighted. A blank or unlighted screen could indicate a thermostat failure. Check the batteries: Many modern thermostats rely on battery power to operate. If the screen is blank or unlighted, a battery change could solve the problem. Other thermostat malfunctions could also be the result of bad batteries.

Change the batteries and recheck function of your heating or cooling system. Check the settings: Changes in settings could be caused by weak batteries or thermostat malfunction. Make sure that the thermostat is set to provide either heating or cooling, as needed, and that programmed set-points are correct. Photo courtesy of Flickr. Blair Lampe is a New York-based professional mechanic, blogger, theater technician, and speechwriter.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to content Thermostats regulate coolant flow to increase or decrease engine temperature.

How It Works Located where the top radiator hose meets the engine, thermostats open or close in response to coolant temperature. The Heat Is On Thermostats fail because they become weak, stuck open or stuck closed. Keeping Your Coolant One sign that you might have a stuck-closed thermostat is rapid temperature increase during normal operation. Categories Maintenance Tags antifreeze , coolant , cooling fan , cooling system , heater core , overheating , thermostat , water pump.

Related Articles. Next Next post: 5 Tips for Driving in a Hailstorm. Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Close Menu Overlay. But once you have the housing off, replacing the part is only another minute of work. It will cause the engine and the oil within it to exceed operating temperatures, making the oil thin and increasing wear. Is your temperature gauge all over the place? Does the gauge stay cold, then suddenly shoot up to the red zone?

Or rise gradually to hot, only to suddenly drop to normal? This could be down to the thermostat sticking or being clogged with corrosion.

However, if the engine is, heaven forbid, filled with just water, rust and corrosion will become an issue. Solution : You could clean it up, but honestly, for the sake of what it will cost, you should just put a new thermostat in. Drain the existing coolant by the tap on the bottom of the radiator or by disconnecting a bottom radiator hose see your Haynes manual. If the coolant coming out is really dirty and rusty, refill the system with water and drain it several times until it is clean.

Fill the cooling system back up with the correct rated coolant for your engine, diluted properly, and follow the procedure in your Haynes manual to be sure there are no air pockets. Go to front page.