gsxtacy
20+ Year Contributor
- 1,157
- 26
- Apr 29, 2002
-
Clovis,
New Mexico
I recently ( 3-4 months ago) replaced the original Thermostat in my 98' GSX with a "Fail Safe" Thermostat. Fail safe meaning, upon failure the thermostat will stick in the OPEN position. Today (Christmas) I drove 18 miles to my Grand-Parents house to have Christmas lunch. On the way I was cruising 70-75 mph and about 14-15 miles into my trip I glanced at my gauges and noticed that the temperature was above normal
( 9 O'clock ) pointing towards 10-11. I observed that it wasn't climbing, but instead just holding steady, so I reached over and kicked the Defroster to HIGH, Climate to FULL WARM and it slowly decended towards normal. Well I finally made it to Grandma's house, parked the car and popped the hood.
All was well, no leaks, no boiling. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I let the car sit for awhile and cool off a bit, went inside and ate lunch. Well, I came back outside to check on the coolant level. Low. So I went to the local convience store and purchased some $8.99 50/50 coolant. Topped off the radiator and cranked the car to get the thermostat to open and top off the system. It seemed as if the thermostat NEVER opened, the coolant I poured in previously just flowed away. I decided to drive the car home gently, no boost, no speeding, just ordinary driving. 18 miles no temp rise. Stopped off by the mother-in-law's house to pick up the gifts we had opened earlier in the morning, and proceeded home. 10 red-lights later I am noticing the temp was getting back to 10-11 o'clock. Get home and check the coolant again. Low.
WTF? What do you think? Is my new "Fail-safe" thermostat FAILED? I am thinking its either that or my Radiator cap isn't holding the 15psi that a cooling system should, OR a combination of the radiator cap/thermostat. No steam, no boiling, no coolant in the oil, no coolant out the exhaust. Anyone wanna chime in with a similar experience?
thanks.
gsxtacy
( 9 O'clock ) pointing towards 10-11. I observed that it wasn't climbing, but instead just holding steady, so I reached over and kicked the Defroster to HIGH, Climate to FULL WARM and it slowly decended towards normal. Well I finally made it to Grandma's house, parked the car and popped the hood.
All was well, no leaks, no boiling. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I let the car sit for awhile and cool off a bit, went inside and ate lunch. Well, I came back outside to check on the coolant level. Low. So I went to the local convience store and purchased some $8.99 50/50 coolant. Topped off the radiator and cranked the car to get the thermostat to open and top off the system. It seemed as if the thermostat NEVER opened, the coolant I poured in previously just flowed away. I decided to drive the car home gently, no boost, no speeding, just ordinary driving. 18 miles no temp rise. Stopped off by the mother-in-law's house to pick up the gifts we had opened earlier in the morning, and proceeded home. 10 red-lights later I am noticing the temp was getting back to 10-11 o'clock. Get home and check the coolant again. Low.
WTF? What do you think? Is my new "Fail-safe" thermostat FAILED? I am thinking its either that or my Radiator cap isn't holding the 15psi that a cooling system should, OR a combination of the radiator cap/thermostat. No steam, no boiling, no coolant in the oil, no coolant out the exhaust. Anyone wanna chime in with a similar experience?
thanks.
gsxtacy
