Every driver should be able to find and test the thermostat for functionality. If the engine overheats, all important parts will fail, so this process should be taken seriously.
The content of the article:
- What is a thermostat
- Breakdown search
- How to check if it works
- Repair price
The cooling system of a car engine is one of the main components, which performs its function at full capacity. Without cooling the engine, the car may stall completely, and the engine may become unusable. The thermostat is one of the components of the cooling system, and its failure will not lead to good operation of the unit.
The concept and principle of operation of the thermostat
The thermostat is a specially designed device to prevent overheating of the engine. Its construction contains wax, which, at a special temperature, begins to melt and expand, which leads to the opening of the valves.
Coolant flows through these valves. When the temperature stabilizes, the wax narrows and the liquid stops flowing. This is how the thermostat works. Depending on the selected temperature regime, thermostats are divided into high, medium and low temperature.
How to identify a broken thermostat
Basically, a malfunction leads to the fact that the engine overheats, and the coolant boils and, as a result, the connecting parts of the car malfunction.
So one of the signs of a problem is insufficient engine warming up in winter. The engine either warms up for a very long time, or does not heat up to the optimum temperature. This contributes to more fuel consumption, which leads to a decrease in power.
It is also possible that the engine overheats, on the contrary, often in the summer. In any case, if there are any signs and signals of problems with the thermostat, it must be checked.
Functional check
First of all, it is necessary to check the thermostat directly in the machine without removing it. First of all, you need to know that the coolant circulates in two circles: small and large. In the case of a small circle, the engine is warmed up. After that, the liquid begins to circulate in a large circle, reaching the radiator.
The engine must be cool at the beginning of the test. Then it should be turned on in a special idle mode of a stationary car. After a couple of minutes, you should check the radiator of the cooling system. It must be at rest, as the engine should not warm up in such a short time. In this case, the thermostat valve, as expected, should be closed. Then again after a while, namely when the temperature reaches 90 ° C, the branch pipe should be checked again. If it is hot, then the valve is open and the liquid is already circulating in a large circle. If the pipe remains cold, then the valve did not work and remained closed. This indicates a problem with the thermostat. In this case, it must be replaced.
The second problem may be that the engine heats up ahead of time. This signals that the valve remains open and that fluid is constantly circulating in a large circle. In this case, more fuel is consumed, which also creates inconvenience.
However, there are rare cases when the thermostat is in the middle position. This entails a long warm-up time for the engines, and the difficulty lies in the fact that this problem is rather difficult to determine. The only way out is to remove the thermostat.
Before removing the thermostat, drain the coolant. Place a container under the drain tanks or, if it is not there, under the radiator pipe. In order to properly drain the liquid, it is better to use the instructions. The liquid should be drained carefully, as it can be reused.
After that, remove the thermostat itself and unscrew the pipe. Then we proceed to check the suitability of the thermostat. To do this, pour water into a kitchen container, for example, into a saucepan and lower the thermostat there. Then we put on fire. The container should be warmed up to about 100 ° C. You can measure the exact temperature using a special thermometer.
Further, after all this, we observe the behavior of the thermostat. When the required temperature is reached, the thermostat valve should open, and after being taken out of the water and the temperature dropped, it should close. If this does not happen, then the thermostat is inoperative and must be replaced.
Repair cost
The price of the thermostat starts at $ 8. You should choose high-quality products, since this is what the life of the device depends on. Repair work can cost about $ 16, so it is better to replace it yourself at home.
