Coolant temp never gets above blue zone

Feb 20, 2006 33 Replies

Took it to my local garage today... The fixing inside the housing which holds the thermostat had broken.

I now have a toasty warm car with a vertical needle!

I didn't realise just how cold it had been in there....

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions...

Now, onto my next 2 projects - parking sensors and angel eye headlights!

The thermostat is clamped in place by the face of the housing.

Agree but, a thermostat is made of five major parts:

- a big washer,

- a wax/copper cartridge with a plunger and a valve at the end,

- a bracket which maintain the cartridge centered onto the big washer

- a second bracket on the opposite side maintaining :

- a spring depressing the valve in closed position against the big washer. I assume that one of the bracket, where it's crimped inside the big washer was damaged or broken, letting either the valve opened or the cartridge askew and the valve partially opened.

He was lucky that no part went into the radiator !

"Dave Plowman (News)" a écrit dans le message news: snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk...

In all my *many* years of DIY on cars, I've never come across a thermostat which was mechanically broken as you suggest.

whatever you do, I would not drive it anymore until this is fixed. This is wearing on your engine. Also might want to consider changing the oil after it is fixed. (smell the dipstick, see if it smells like gas)

I'll post a link to a pic soon (once I've taken it!) so you can see exactly what was broken...

"RT" a écrit dans le message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com... [...]

RT,

What the hell is the reason you would replace the oil? Condensation?

Bye

"Dave Plowman (News)" a écrit dans le message news: snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk...

Dave, I didn't see any as well. I had one a little bit twisted on my Spitfire (second hand) but possibly be due to a bad mounting. I just pointed out the areas of potential fragility and the possible ways it failed. Should the cartridge be leaky, it would have been closed forever. Of course I may be wrong. Bye

"Shevek" a écrit dans le message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

That's called feedback! And still appreciated. Thanks

Well yes. But 'damaging' a stuck thermostat on removal is common enough. Not quite the same thing, though.

Most modern stats fail 'safe' ie open. Very much older bellows types didn't. Of course I've seem thermostats which have been damaged on removed and replaced badly - even the wrong way round.

that's one of them. the engine probably never reaches operating temps including the oil. And not to mention any fuel blowby that collects in the oil.

Had the same problem. Make sure you replace the Thermostat, Thermostat

0-ring, Thermostat housing gasket. Also since you opened your cooling system, make sure you work to get the air out. How do I know this..... Just went through it yesterday! I had to take it a step further, and replace my radiator since, I had a blow out.

Cheers, David

1995 525i

in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, RT at snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote on 2/23/06 1:01 AM:

I like to use 241 ( ± ) (this is different than 0241, which gives ñ) and

0176, which gives the degree symbol. The rest I have to use the Character Map because I don't remember them either ...

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