Engine running hot

Hi Ken,

I haven't look at all the videos yet, and since everything is closed here on a Sunday I washed my car (in -5 degree weather) and turned it on and let it warm up to see if the interior heat came on (to de-frost the windshield!). When the engine got up to operating temperature, which took a while, the hot air blew cold. That tells me that the thermostat is stuck in the closed position(?) Or is it the opposite? I don't know how heat is transferred from the engine coolant to the hot air blower system for the interior of the car but that seems to be the logical thing to think.

The car had been sitting for about 19 months without being started and I have no idea what effect that would have on the thermostat. Since I have no idea if the thermostat had ever been changed since the car was purchased, this would be the logical place to start.

Hi Ken,

I checked the coolant level and it is good.

I got a new thermostat for the car but before I went to pick it up I had a look at the engine compartment again and did some things to the radiator and one of the wires that I disconnected.

With the wire, it is the one that is attached to the engine block by a large bolt near where the fuel rail starts. It is a grounding wire for the fuel rail. I unbolted it and gave it a thorough clean with a green scotchbrite pad. I also cleaned the part of the engine block where the wire loop/washer sits against it when bolted to it. I also cleaned the bolt washer. Then I put everything back and tightened up the bolt properly.

Then I had a look down the front of the radiator and found that there were a lot of cobwebs, dust/fluff buildup. So I took some rigid wire and swept it across the front of the radiator knocking all this stuff off.

I then took the car out for a drive. After a while, and with the temp gauge needle in the normal range, I turned on the heat inside the car and found that it was blowing warm air. Much better than before. During the course of the drive the needle would move off to the right towards the red zone but would then come back to center. The air also become much warmer. So it seems that this problem is sorted out. I did go ahead and buy the thermostat and as well as the gasket and will buy an aluminum housing for the thermostat housing and get them both changed as the original plastic housing is on the engine which means the thermostat has probably never been changed. It will be a good preventative measure. Thanks again for the help.