I'm pretty sure my thermostat has gone bad. The temp needle wont go passed C.. i pop the hood and the top hose is warm and the bottom hose is cold. Is it bad to drive it liek this for a day? I have to take my brother to guitar lesson and such, i wont be able to fix the thermostat until later tonight. Is my thermostat stuck open or closed? I just dont want to drive it and it be stuck closed and my hose blow up or somethign. Help me out please. Thanks guys

 

Stuck open is okay, closed is not.

 

how can i find out if it is stuck open or stuck close?

 

Well, you said your temp. gauge is always on C, how reliable is it? You could always just take out the actual stat from the housing and run w/o it.

 

the heat blows hot air though.. i would take it out but i dont want to take it apart and put it back together later tonight. I just want to make sure its okay to drive for today.

 

Freeway driving will probably be okay. Stay away from stop and go traffic.

 

well its not exactly good for your car if ur thermo is stuck open either. your car has a optimal temperature that it runs at. if your car is too cold, oil is thicker making it harder to lubricate vital parts not to mention its harder to get a good combustion chamber ignition. so in a sense its bad to have a cold running car also.

 

i think mine is starting to get stuck open, every once and a while my temp will drop to 1/4 or under and stay there, sometimes it'll go back to about 1/3. What this also cause my idle to be above normal?

 

when thermo system is a cause of your fried engine then you will know how bad it is.

I think it's better to check on these stuff"

 

it will if you car does not heat up to a certain operating temperature. there is a sensor that coolant runs through. when the coolant is cold it keeps your idle high, and as your coolant heats up, your idle drops... so yes your idle will be a bit high. best just to get a new thermo... they are cheap anyways.

 

awesome, ill pick one up once it stops raining here

 

change that bitch. itll give u small drivability problem. bad gas mileage but u should able to drive for a day or 2

 

i have the same problem... i notice bad gas milege wen it'z cold outside... i been driving around like this for weeks... i know I's stupid... just haven't had time to go to the parts store...