I got a CEL for my Thermostat or my Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor. The Autozone guy said it could be either or. I noticed my coolant resavor has been becoming low very often ( I would refill every week or so). Also my temperature in my gauge is still accurate. So what do you guys think? It is a easy fix for both of them? Also would this cause my knock sensor to go off? I also got a code for that too. I'm hoping its a ghost thing.

 

Well allow me to enlighten you, the thermostat guage is more like a cold, warm, hot guage.. In your case you could be overheating and causing damage or coding your Knock Sensor.. Ive heard of this with EGR related hardware as well as Emissions sensors such as 02 Sensors.. If i were you, i would replace the thermostat and make DAMN sure that your radiator is not leaking... If it is, i would probably get that replaced as well... I recently had these problems i just mentioned. My radiator had a crack in it, and it was coding an 02 and my EGR solenoid. Reguardless, if your thermostat is busted and you dont replace it, and it decides to stay shut, and you drive on it.. You will toast your engine.

hope this helps man.

 

If you losing coolant, and you don't have visible leaks, there's a good chance you have a head gasket leak. Some times you can burn coolant without any other symptoms.

 

lets not jump to conclusions JUST yet.. dont need to scare the guy half to death now

 

Did you change your thermostat yourself? I am hoping that is it. The guy at the store also said, my coolant level could be too low, and that could be setting off my light.

 

Update: So I just went to my car and started it up for 10 minutes. The temp needle moved maybe a tad that's about it. Usually the needle should be at least a quarter way up after 10 minutes. So I'm guessing it's my thermostat that is broken, or at least i'm just hoping it is that. Also anyone have a rough guess of how much a shop charges to change that piece? The part at Autozone is only 15 bucks.

 

So today, I let start my car and let it warm up for about 10 minutes. Needle moved a tad, heater was warm, but not crazy hot. I dropped my mom off at work. And as I turned down the block, the car started to boggle like crazy, the RPMs jumped up and down as if it was going to stall out. But it didn't. Is this another problem or more symptoms of my current one?

 

sounds to me like what my purple max did when I bought it. turns out it was seriously low on coolant. Filled it up and it ran fine.

 

Well, bud; do this.. replace the thermostat... its probably stuck wide open...

the thermostat is not that hard to change, just go to autozone get the gasket and the thermostat and download the wonderful FSM in my sig... or click link below....

follow the directions and make sure shes working properly...

 

Thank you so much! I changed the Thermostat the other day. I've driven 60 miles already and no CEL light yet. Hopefully everything will be fine!