If your car, truck, or utility vehicle is overheating within the first 15 minutes after you started, this is a sign that the thermostat has gone bad. Urb’s Garage contest the thermostat and replace it. On average, you can expect to get 10 years out of this cooling system part. After that time, it is more likely to fail. Without a functioning thermostat, your engine does not get any coolant, and this is the reason why it is overheating quickly after you start it. Let’s talk about the signs of a malfunctioning thermostat below so you know what to look for if your vehicle is 10 years old or older.
Engine Coolant Leaks
The thermostat opens a valve to release the coolant into the engine. The valve can get stuck on an older thermostat and, consequently, the coolant can leak out of the thermostat. There are two types of leaks that can occur: a slow leak or a fast leak. A slow leak will result in corrosion around the thermostat housing. If you inspect the housing, you will see a substance built up that looks like gel. This is engine coolant. A fast leak will result in coolant spots or puddles on your garage floor.
Hot/Cold Air in Spurts
Another sign that your car’s thermostat is going out is drastic fluctuations in the engine’s temperature and the air that blows out of your vents. As the engine fluctuates between hot and cold, the air temperature will also fluctuate. You will see the engine temperature fluctuations on your temperature gauge. What causes these fluctuations is a malfunctioning thermostat that is releasing coolant into the engine in spurts. As such, when the engine receives a spurt of coolant, it will cool down. Once the thermostat closes its valve, the engine will heat up.
If your car overheats when AC is on, it could be a completely different issue you need to take care of. If you are wondering why is my AC not blowing cold air in my car I have written a detailed article on the topic and you should check it out to clear the doubt.
Overheating Engine
Finally, as discussed above, all of these things will make your engine overheat. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the overheating engine because it is either not getting coolant at all, the coolant levels are low due to a leak, or the coolant is making its way into the engine sporadically. Even if it is cold outside, your engine will overheat quickly after you started because the thermostat is either malfunctioning or has died completely.
Urb’s Garage has two auto service shops in Kentucky to help you. We’ve got an auto shop in Burlington, and an auto shop in Erlanger. Call the shop that is closest to you today if you believe that your car has a malfunctioning or dead thermostat.
