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Hello Every one hope this helps
We’ve all been there before or will do some day. when The car is overheating, but you can not find what the problem is. While many people dive in, assuming the worse and replace every part under the hood, one small inexpensive part is often to blame, particularly in older cars.engines have a thermostat that keeps coolant out of the RADIATOR while it heats up the engine and allows coolant into the RADIATOR ones its gets hot. If the thermostat is not working, or failed shut, coolant will not flow freely into the engine and the engine will heat up and eventually seize.
Step 1 Pop the bonnet and locate the thermostat of your vehicle The thermostat is generally located inside a hose between the radiator and the engine.
Step 2 Using the socket set, unbolt the thermostat and remove it from the casing.
Step 3 Place the thermostat in a pot of water and begin to heat it. Most thermostats are set to operate at just below boiling. As the water heats watch the thermostat closely. Just before the water begins to boil a working thermostat will open, as if to allow coolant into the engine. A jammed or failed thermostat will not open.
Step 4 Replace the thermostat if it does not open. If it does open, place it back in your car….you have a more serious problem and should take it to a mechanic.
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Based on the Topic title, I thought you were going to say turn on the heater in the car! ….Which is still true in an Emergency situation when the car has somewhere to go and you want to try to cool the car down temporarily.
Cheers!
Karl!
[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=54278]Based on the Topic title, I thought you were going to say turn on the heater in the car! ….Which is still true in an Emergency situation when the car has somewhere to go and you want to try to cool the car down temporarily.
Cheers!
Karl![/quote]
😛 true maybe i should add it (if your in deep sh** put your heater on hot and fan blow 4 no matter how hot it is outside in a Emergency situation this could save you blowing your head gasket
From my experience, the upper radiator hose will also be cold due to lack of coolant flow.
Secondly, they say “Fail-Safe” thermostats “fail” open and remain open when they fail. Not sure about this, however. Never have seen one “fail” in open position.
Thermostats are inexpensive and easy to swap out.
The very first thing a consumer should do for overheating is to top up the coolant and then burp the system. I suspect a large number of normal thermostats are unnecessarily replaced because of trapped air. Testing a themostat is an option, but shop time is expensive enough that most shops just replace the themostat without necessarily testing the old one. Then they properly burp the system and the problem is usually solved.
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