You may never need to worry about replacing your car’s thermostat because they last 10 years on average. This being said, if you plan to keep your car for a long time, or if you drive an older automobile, there will come a time when you need to replace the thermostat. Peerless Automotive can do this for you. In some cases, you may receive a warning before the thermostat dies completely. We are going to list the signs of a faulty car thermostat below for your information. Bring your vehicle to our shop at the first sign of trouble.
Corroded/Rusty Thermostat
You might be able to see that your car’s thermostat needs to be replaced if you visually inspect it. Look for things such as corrosion or rust on the thermostat housing. Corrosion or rust is a sign that coolant is slowly leaking out of the thermostat via the closed valve. The coolant will puddle around the thermostat and corrode it. It’s important to replace the thermostat before you end up with an even bigger coolant leak. Let’s talk about this next.
Leaking Engine Coolant
The bigger coolant leak will leave spots or puddles on your garage floor. Generally, the spots or puddles will be found toward the front of the engine, as this is where the thermostat is located. The thermostat keeps track of the engine’s temperature and releases the coolant once the engine starts to get hot. If the thermostat is leaking engine coolant, this will reduce the levels of coolant in the engine. As you can imagine, low coolant levels will overheat the engine.
Unpredictable Temperatures
You may be able to see that your car’s thermostat is malfunctioning by looking at the temperature gauge on the dashboard. If you see the needle moving up and down erratically, the thermostat is not able to gauge the engine’s temperature correctly and is releasing engine coolant at the wrong times. Your vehicle’s engine may fluctuate from being too cold to too hot because the thermostat is not controlling the release of the coolant appropriately.
Constant Overheating
As you can imagine, any of these problems can make your engine overheat all the time. In fact, one sign that your thermostat has died completely or that the valve is stuck in the closed position is an overheating engine right after you start your automobile. If the engine overheats within 15 minutes, it is not getting the coolant it needs.
Call Peerless Automotive in Olathe, KS, today if you believe your automobile needs a new thermostat. We’ve got you covered.