You can get about a decade out of your car’s thermostat. After 10 years, however, you may be facing the need for a new thermostat. Mike’s Auto Service & Repair advises that your engine cannot run without a thermostat. This is the cooling system part that opens up a valve to release the coolant into the engine once the engine starts to get too hot. Obviously, you cannot drive your car, truck, or utility vehicle’s engine without coolant and it. Here are three signs that your car needs a new thermostat because the existing thermostat is malfunctioning or no longer working.
1. An Overheating Engine
An overheating engine is an obvious sign that there is something wrong with the cooling system, and this problem could be with the thermostat. One thing to take into account is how quickly your engine overheats. If you turn on your automobile and the engine overheats within 15 minutes, this is an indication that it doesn’t have any coolant in it. The lack of coolant suggests that the thermostat has malfunctioned and failed to release the coolant into the engine.
2. Erratic Temperature Changes
The thermostat can also malfunction, and this will cause erratic temperature changes in your engine. One thing that the thermostat can do is release too much coolant into the engine. You will notice that your temperature gauge might go up and down erratically if the thermostat is releasing the coolant erratically. This drastic fluctuation in engine temperature definitely points to a problem with the thermostat or with the water pump and its circulation of the engine coolant.
3. Leaking Engine Coolant
Finally, if your thermostat develops a leak, especially in the valve, you may end up with an overheating engine due to low coolant levels. Depending on the size of the leak, you may end up with spots or puddles on your garage floor. If the leak isn’t that bad, you will notice corrosion around the thermostat housing that is being caused by the seeping engine coolant. It’s important to have a leaking thermostat replaced as soon as possible to, again, prevent your engine from overheating. Any time the engine is coolant starved, it will overheat, even if the weather is cold outside.
Look no further than Mike’s Auto Service & Repair in West Springfield, MA, for all of your automotive service and repair needs including the thermostat. We’d be happy to inspect and test the thermostat to make sure it is working properly. If it isn’t, we will replace it.
