Your German automobile’s thermostat should last at least 10 years. HQ Autosport can replace the thermostat once it goes bad. You may end up with one or more of the following signs of a faulty thermostat below. Bring your Beemer or Benz to our shop at the first sign of trouble. You do not want to continue to drive your German automobile with a bad thermostat, especially if the vehicle has a high-performance engine. Continuing to drive the vehicle can cause irreparable engine damage.
Corroded Thermostat
One sign that the thermostat needs to be replaced is if the thermostat has become corroded. A corroded thermostat means that it is leaking just enough engine coolant to pool around the housing. This coolant turns into a gel-like substance and starts to eat away at the thermostat’s metal. It’s important to replace the thermostat at this stage before the coolant eats its way completely through the metal and causes a larger coolant leak.
Leaking Engine Coolant
When this happens, you will end up with an engine coolant on the garage floor. Depending on the severity of the thermostat’s leak, you may have spots of coolant or puddles of coolant. As an aside, engine coolant can also leak out of the water pump, radiator, radiator hoses, cooling system seals and gaskets, and the radiator overflow reservoir. For the sake of this blog’s topic, however, you need to replace the thermostat if it is leaking.
Erratic Temperatures
Another sign that the thermostat is going bad is erratic changes in your vehicle’s engine temperature. For example, the temperature may go from cold to hot and back to cold over and over again while you are driving the vehicle. This is an indication that the thermostat is not reading the engine’s temperature correctly and releasing coolant at the wrong times. This can happen with an older thermostat that no longer functions properly.
Overheating Engine
Naturally, all of these things can make your engine overheat every time you drive your German automobile. Consequently, and as we mentioned above, driving the vehicle when the engine is overheating can damage it beyond repair. In severe cases, you may even crack the engine block. As such, it’s important that you bring your vehicle to our shop right away if it is overheating when you are driving it.
HQ Autosport in Escondido, CA, will test your thermostat and replace it if it is necessary. Call us today to schedule a service appointment that works with your schedule.
