₦airaland Forum

Ikenna351:
@ Poster,

Did you at any time flushed & refilled the car cooling system/radiator without bleeding the cooling system? To be honest, your thermostat might not actually be faulty. if you change your car coolant without bleeding the system, the system will have what we call airlock. The airlock will make the engine to suffer what we call airpocket(overheating of cooling system). what & how do I mean? When you flush your radiator or cooling system, air will fill the vacuum, formely filled with fluid. Then, while pouring in fresh coolant, the air in the engine walls will be trapped, since the thermostat is shut/close. The air trapped is called "airlock". If one run the engine with the airlock, the air trapped around the engine walls will be boiling the coolant beyond the operating temperature & the boiled air ( in fumes) wont be able to pass the hole on the thermo when it opens. Thus, the engine will be overheating, few minutes after the engine starts. The engine will be regarded as suffering from "airpocket", which can easily blow up the Cylinder head gasket, if care is not taken.

Whenever you decide to replace/fix back the thermo, make sure you bleed the cooling system from the bleed screw. You should be able to locate the bleed screw when you refer to your car owner's manual. If you dont have the manual, Trace the screw on all the hoses linked to the radiator, you will see it. Your manual should be able to guide you on how to bleed the cooling system. If you dont know how to bleed, ask & I will explain.

There is a way you can find out if a thermostat works or is ok. Pour some water in a kitchen pot, put the thermo in the pot filled with water & boil. As the temperature rises to the temperature the thermostat is supposed to open to pass fluid, it will open right there inside the pot, even before the water start boiling. But like I noted in the earlier post, you need to check your car owner's manual to know the operting temperture of your car cooling system, which will tell you the temperture when your thermo should open.

Like I would always tell people, stop listening to clowns/destroyers that call themselves auto mechanics/rewires here in Nigeria. Bunch of Clowns! Arm yourself with the your car owners manual, workshop manual & wiring diagram. Start to learn how to fix your car, at least, the basics by yourself (DIY). We cant be too busy or too big than the western world that diagnose & fix their vehicles by themselves. It can be scarely in the begining, but with time, you will know more than those clowns. You have access to internet which is a big impotant tool those clowns dont have to update themselves with the modern way of diagnosing a car. I dont remember the last time a mechanic or rewire touched my car. It feels very good/satisfactory when one diagnosed & fixed his/her car by him/herself. Its is the best way of ensuring PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE.

I would also advice that you search for an online community or forum of your car .e.g. Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry,etc. No matter the make or model of your car, you will find a forum online where you will see your fellow owners of the car discussing & suggesting to a fellow member what to do & how to go about fixing his car problem, with a similar experience. you will learn a lot from others experience. There you can also get & download free owners & workshop manual from fellow members. Its so unfortunate that we are not getting such good things here in Nairaland autos. Instead, cars for sale. Unlike other forums that have sections for cars for sale & sections for discussions.

Ikenna.