I Didn’t Know My Car’s Thermostat Could Go Bad

Yes, Main Street Automotive advises that your car’s thermostat will go bad after approximately 10 years of operation. This equates to about 100,000 miles. Do not worry. We can replace the thermostat if the factory thermostat is malfunctioning or leaking. Let’s talk more about this below. We are going to list the signs of a bad thermostat so you know what to look for in your automobile. Bring your vehicle to our shop as soon as possible to avoid unnecessarily damaging the engine.

A Corroded Thermostat

The thermostat can start to leak slowly when it goes bad. You may not realize the thermostat is leaking because the slow leak will not deposit coolant onto the garage floor. Rather, the coolant will gather around the metal housing that protects the thermostat. When this happens, the coolant corrodes the thermostat housing because it feasts off the metal. The more the thermostat chews on the metal the greater the hole in the metal housing. Consequently, you will eventually end up with…

Leaking Engine Coolant

One day, you may back out of the garage and see puddles on the garage floor. We recommend you confirm whether the puddle is coolant or another automotive fluid. If the puddle is coolant or motor oil, it is not safe to drive your automobile. In the case of the coolant, the engine can overheat, and this will cause additional damage to the engine such as a cracked engine block. As we mentioned above, the thermostat can start leaking coolant onto the garage floor when the coolant eats through the housing.

Fluctuating Temperatures

Whether your thermostat is leaking or not, it may also start to malfunction once it gets too old. When this happens, the engine’s temperature will fluctuate wildly. You will see this on the temperature gauge. The needle will move up and down continuously. This tells you that the thermostat does not understand what the engine’s temperature is, and, consequently, it does not understand when the engine needs coolant. As such, it won’t release the coolant at the right times.

Constant Overheating

Finally, a dead thermostat will make your engine overheat approximately 10 to 15 minutes after you fire up the engine. In fact, the engine will overheat this quickly every time you fire up the engine. The bottom line is that you need a new thermostat installed in the cooling system.

We can do that here at Main Street Automotive in Walnut Creek, CA, so give us a call today.