Hi there,

How often should I change my Thermostat on my 2006 Civic EX. The car has 60 k miles on it. I wonder if its taking the right time to warm up or not.

Currently it takes about 8 minutes (driving it) to get to the full 9 temp marks on en dash. This is in the morning with 46f and it gets to it temp after 5 miles.

Is this expected? Please note I ran this tests without using the heater, in fact I set it on cold turning off the fan to make sure I get the best warming up time I could.

 

That sounds about right, usually you only replace it if it's failed. Maintaining the cooling system is more important. They can last forever if the cooling system is flushed at the correct intervals and filled with the correct fluid. It'll be pretty obvious if the thermostat's failed. The car will either stay cold for a very long time/cool down when driving on the highway if the thermostat's stuck open or overheat if stuck closed.

 

Yes I thought maybe an old Thermostat Spring would not do the proper force to keep it shut on temperatures it should be shut.

 

If you do get a new one, It could also be a good idea to get one that fails open instead of closed. also there are options for performance ones that open sooner if you do any spirited driving.

 

Yeah when I got mine new on 08 I thought the same thing. Its fine and IF it EVER fails its normally closed and your car over heats.

 

Honda uses a fail safe thermostat. It fails open...not closed. Because Honda's mama didn't raise no fool.

OP...8 mins sounds like a longass time. If it were 46 effing degrees and my car took 8 effing mins to warm the eff up, I would throw it off a cliff and warm myself from its flames.

Your thermostat might be getting lazy. I would say 8 mins at 46F is unacceptable.

Why is it 46 degrees in July in a place that apparently uses degree F measurements? Are you from Chile or South Africa or something, and just converting from C to F?

 

well I tell ya what you just never stop learning.

 

B Serious yes, I am from Uruguay. Please note it takes 8 minutes from cold to get up to running temperature.

 

Ok I replaced my Thermostat with a new Genuine Honda one and on the same tests I now achieved 4-5 minutes to warm up with the same 8c outside. And this is driving really quietly, not going over 2000 rpm.

Thanks everyone