Can I drive my car with a broken thermostat?
Yes of course you can! And, you may be surprised by just how far you manage to go, before the engine overheats, seizes, and turns into an immovable, useless, expensive to replace, chunk of metal!It’s probably easier to remove the plates, pour gas all over the inside, and light a match—the effect is about the same. Thermostats invariably fail in the “closed” position so the “shelf life” of a car with a bad thermostat is measured in minutes.You need to borrow a car and go buy another thermostat and gasket—-or at least the gasket. Typically, the cover is held on with two bolts, so use a wrench (or pay a mechanic) to remove the bolts, and then the old thermostat. If you haven’t been able to afford a NEW thermostat, use the new gasket to re-install the cover, and don’t drive too far, especially in winter, til you actually get a new thermostat.
What happens to your car if you remove the thermostat?
What happens to your car if you remove the thermostat?Some years back, I bought a beautiful 1998 Volvo V90 - my “collectors car of the future” (very low mileage and one owner). I noticed that the engine temperature never got up to normal level and, when I drove fast on the motorway, the temperature actually fell as I drove faster. These are normally symptoms of a thermostat that is stuck “open”.I took the car to the local independent Volvo garage and asked the owner of the garage to replace the thermostat. He took the thermostat cover off and, to the amazement of both of us, there was no thermostat present.A soon as a thermostat was fitted, the engine quickly reached correct operating temperature and, in addition, the fuel consumption fell by about 30%.
Is it okay to drive your car without thermostats?
If you take out the thermostat then the coolant will just flow 100% by the water pump. Assuming that your system is properly sized so that cutting off flow with the thermostat will result in the proper operating temperature being met then running without a thermostat will always result in a lower than intended operating temperature.Here are some things that will happen:Your engine will run cooler than the desired temperature most all of the time andit will pollute more since it is tuned to run at the designed temperatureYour heater will take longer to become effective since the coolant is used to warm the heater core heat exchanger so you may, on cold days take longer to warm the cabin andmore importantly, it will take much longer to defrost the windshield using the defroster function.Probably it won’t hurt short term to the car engine itself, I don’t think. But in the long term operating it significantly below the designed temperature could have a number of effects, perhaps on lube viscosity, various carbon buildups that lead to other engine performance problems and possibly permanent damage.I once had a mechanic shop replace the thermostat and flush the coolant. When I get it back the car took forever to warm up the heater and get the engine to the temperature. I eventually took off the thermostat housing and found he had placed it about half way off and clamped it down with the housing out of position- it didn’t leak but the gap on one side pretty much made it free flowing.
What is the effect of removing thermostat from a vehicle?
Removing the thermostat and of course replacing the housing with it gone, will allow coolant to flow unrestricted in your engine. Normally the engine heats up and the thermostat opens at a specific temperature to allow it to warm up quickly and regulate the temperature at that value.When you open the system without a thermostats the temperature regulation will be gone. Affecting these things:Engine will warm up very slowly in the winter and your heater may not work for many minutes if at all.Engine will run cooler in the summertime, taking longer to warm up and operate smoothly.Engine will run cooler in the summer and winter than designed for - this may cause incomplete combustion and primarily cause way more pollution products - followed by failing emissions testing and fouling spark plugs and other components. Potentially also loss of performance and loss of fuel economy.In general I would say it is not a good thing to do for any liquid cooled automobile engine. I can’t see any practical advantages.
How can you tell if a water pump on a 2002 Honda Accord LX has gone bad?
It will howl or rattle if its going out, at first. Then, it will leak out of its “weep hole” and manifest tiny puddles of coolant on the ground. If you have the belt off, sometimes you can wiggle the pulley around although this is not always the case, as sometimes the seals give before the bearings do.The best way to make this happen is to start the car and let it run on a hot day with the air conditioner off. Let the engine get up to temperature, and just watch under the car. If anything drips a color that smells vaguely of dead fish and stale coffee, there is your leak.
My 97 Honda Accord heater is blowing cold air, why? It was working a couple of days ago?
Your description of the problem is too short and not really tell us anything. Why you replaced the thermostat? Because of the no heat problem? If so, you were barking at the wrong tree. Let get back to square one and do check the following if your engine is not having any problem like overheating etc. other than no heat. The first thing to do is bleed the air out of the cooling system: Loosen the air bleed bolt in the thermostat housing, then fill the radiator to the bottom of the filler neck with the coolant mixture. Tighten the bleed bolt as soon as coolant starts to run out in a steady stream without bubbles. With the radiator cap off, start the engine and let it run until warmed up (radiator fan comes on at least twice). Then, if necessary, add more coolant mix to bring the level back up to the bottom of the filler neck. Put the radiator cap on tightly, then run the engine again and check for leaks. The next thing to check is the Heater Control Valve. With the heat selector on HOT, the valve should be open. Feel the heater hoses, they should be equally hot on both sides. If not, the valve is not opening and needs to be replaced. If both hoses to the heater core are hot and still no heat then replace the heater core. Do not flush it, it won't work! If after this you still have no heat, we need to check the HVAC controls. There is a cable that goes from the temperature selector switch to an air mix door. Check to see that it is still attached on both ends and not kinked. I have seen may cables bend and distort at the air mix door. HTH Edit: Let me know if your system is Auto system. My answer is for manual system.
My 1998 Honda Accord is Overheating please help?
My car has been running pretty hot after about 10-15 minutes of driving. Its been doing this for the last 3-4 weeks.. It doesn't smoke or go all the way to hot but pretty close to it. I watched the needle today and it will get hot and then go down a little and get hot and go down a little. It never stays at the medium temp it should be nor does the needle ever get there its always above the half way mark. I checked my coolant and its completely full (last coolant fill was 07/01/11). I have been trying not to drive it too long because I know it can't be good to run your car that hot. Any ideas on what could be wrong with it? My thermostat or water pump? I'm not smart with cars at all but don't want to pay $400 for a mechanic just to tell me the problem. Any ideas on how to go about finding the problem/fixing it?
Does anyone know where to locate the coolant temperature sensor on a 2000 Honda Accord with a V6 Engine?
Which one are you looking for? There are 3 sensors/switches. There is a sensor that sends a signal to your temp guage (Right on the passenger side of the head below the distributor) which is probably the one you're wanting. There's also a switch that controls your cooling fan and also one at your thermostat housing.