A truck’s engine will be made up of many parts, each small and insignificant part having its mission and playing an integral role in it. If one part is damaged and left unattended, it may further damage its interrelated other parts.
However, do not worry too much, fortunately, there are symptoms of thermostat damage that we can find, in this article, I will introduce you to the thermostat and the 5 symptoms that represent its damage, to help you better understand this component and make the appropriate judgment.
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Principle of Thermostat
The thermostat is the switching element that controls the temperature in the air conditioning system. It controls the start and stops of the compressor by sensing the evaporator surface temperature, the interior temperature, the atmospheric temperature, etc. The thermostat is usually placed in the evaporator box or evaporator box near the cold air control panel, adjust the thermostat on the truck, in other words, adjust the control points in the thermostat.
The thermostat is a simple but very important component of a truck engine, in other words, its presence is indispensable. The thermostat in a truck not only measures heat but also contributes to the overall function of the engine. Its purpose is to control the flow of coolant, that is, to cool the engine in time when it overheats, and to keep the engine at the right temperature under various conditions to keep the truck running as efficiently as possible.
Once the thermostat has failed, you may feel that the engine cannot run properly in a safe condition during the driving process, and the truck’s engine may also be seriously damaged as a result in the long run.
Thermostat damage can generally be judged by five symptoms: abnormal temperature readings in the instrument fill, changes in cabin temperature, coolant leakage, heater failure, and strange noises.
So, to better understand more about whether your truck’s thermostat is damaged, let’s take a look at the next 5 symptoms of a damaged thermostat!
Symptoms of Thermostat Damage
1. Abnormal Dashboard Temperature Reading
The thermostat is factory adjusted for a minimum switch temperature.
Generally speaking, we all know that when we start the truck, the engine will start running and the temperature will start to rise slowly. The 180° thermostat will begin to turn on when the coolant in the engine body is within 3 degrees of 180° Fahrenheit.
When the engine coolant is 15-20 degrees above 180°F, the thermostat will turn on completely. When you operate the truck, the engine needs to be constantly cooled, so the thermostat is usually open when you start the truck so that it can maintain normal engine temperature and keep it running properly.
When you start the truck for some time, the needle of the temperature gauge should be on the cold side, and during the driving process, we can obviously notice that the thermometer gradually rises until it reaches the optimal running temperature of the engine, but if the thermostat of the truck is damaged, the coolant will not flow to the engine properly, in other words, that is, the thermometer will continue to rise above the abnormal temperature, and when you find out during the driving process This problem, the best way to deal with it is to stop driving immediately and let the engine cool down, if you keep driving, the engine will be damaged for a longer time.
2. Cabin Temperature Changes
The most obvious symptom of a damaged thermostat is that you can feel the breakthrough change in the air temperature inside the truck. First, it may drop to a very low temperature, and then break through to warm up again, the obvious change in air temperature is usually a hint that your thermostat has been damaged.
3. Coolant Leakage
As we mentioned earlier, with a properly functioning thermostat, if the engine temperature rises, coolant will flow to it normally to ensure timely cooling and to keep it running properly. However, if the thermostat is damaged, it may remain closed, which means that the coolant cannot flow normally to the engine, but overflows to the thermostat housing. In this case, the leak can often be detected directly, we just need to stop the truck and get out to check whether green or red liquid will appear on the ground to leak from the truck, we can tell in time, if not dealt with and repaired in time, the coolant hose will leak.
4. Heater Failure
Usually, when the weather cools down, we will turn on the heater in the truck, through the heater radiates warm air to make the temperature inside the truck become warm, rather than the need for cold air, if in the case that we turn on the heater, but there is cold air in the truck, then it may be that the thermostat is stuck open, that is, even if we do not need cold air, the thermostat will continue to let the coolant flow into the engine. In this way, the engine also can not be maintained at normal operating temperature, efficiency will be greatly reduced, but also than the usual use of more fuel, so if you turn on the heater, and the thermostat is open, cold air will continue to discharge from the HVAC vents, and can not be heated.
5. Strange Noise
If you are driving your truck and haven’t noticeably felt the temperature change, then you may also hear some strange noises while driving, these noises usually come from your radiator, engine, or both, and will usually be a rumbling sound, or a knocking sound with a boiling sound, when you hear these strange noises, you should check it out because it may be one of the most common symptoms of a damaged thermostat in your truck.
When one of these five symptoms appears, all prove that your thermostat may have some problems, you should promptly check, if you let the thermostat damage, it will lead to insufficient heating and heater, although this look and feel not particularly serious, but all these bad symptoms may lead to permanent damage to the engine, at the same time, the cost of repair will also increase a lot. The life of the thermostat is usually 50,000 kilometers, and it usually needs to be replaced around 50,000 kilometers, so we must check and replace the thermostat regularly.
Thermostat Replacement Cost
Of course, the cost of replacing the thermostat is not very high, the cost also depends on the make and model of the vehicle, the cost of the thermostat is not very high, but replacing a thermostat requires one to two hours of labor time, labor will also be counted in the final cost, if you want to save this labor cost, unless you are proficient in the auto repair industry, you still need to leave it to the professionals, after all, the thermostat will have a greater impact on the, After all, the thermostat will have a greater impact on the engine, generally speaking, $150 to $350 can be replaced.
I believe that after reading this article, you have a further understanding of the truck thermostat, get your hands on it, and hurry to check if your thermostat has one of the five symptoms above! You can give your thermostat a free inspection at home itself, and remember to replace it in time if it has one, and pay attention to the lifetime of the thermostat if it doesn’t.