What Is A Thermostat
A thermostat is a small device (usually 5cm or 2 inches in diameter) that regulates the flow of engine coolant from the engine to the radiator, thereby controlling how hot or cold an engine is. To fully understand what a thermostat is, let’s find out how it works.
The thermostat sits between the radiator and any liquid-cooled engine. Operationally, it can open and close — depending on how hot or cold the engine is.
When the car is started, the thermostat remains closed to allow the engine (and the coolant) to reach the ideal operating temperature which is usually within 180°F to 230°F. Any temperature above or below that range is not safe for your engine. Thus, at a high temperature, the thermostat opens up to allow the coolant along with the heat to flow into the radiator where the heat Is dispersed. By the time the coolant is at the lower tank of the radiator, the temperature is reduced significantly. And accordingly, the now-cold coolant is circulated back into the engine and the cycle is repeated.
Why Is It Important To Your 5.7 Hemi Engine?
Now, you might have come across lots of opinions on how important or unimportant a thermostat is to your car engine. But then is it truly worth it? Is a thermostat truly essential to your 5.7 Hemi? Well, as experts in the automobile sector, our simple answer is YES! Your Hemi engine doesn’t only need a thermostat, but it needs the best of it!
The Symptoms of a Bad Thermostat
As we said earlier, the thermostat is a very vital part of a vehicle’s cooling system. So, whenever it goes bad, you will surely notice a few visible signs. Let’s explore some of these signs.
- Overheating: You will notice a sharp increase in the temperature of your car which can result in a total engine failure if not resolved. This can happen when the thermostat fails to open up and allow the hot coolant to flow into the radiator (to disperse heat).
- Car Heater Failure: When your thermostat remains open and refuses to close, the engine will never reach the right operating temperature (usually between 180• to 203°, or a little more). This inability to reach the ideal temperature will cause your heater to blow cold air.
- Poor Fuel Efficiency: When you notice that your car heater doesn’t warm the interior cabin of your vehicle, but blows cold air instead, you will also likely observe a tremendous increase in fuel consumption.
- Check Engine Light Notification: With newer technology in place, most modern cars can detect cooling issues even before the temperature goes up. But in older generation autos, there is usually a check engine light that notifies you whenever the engine develops cooling issues due to a bad thermostat.
- Temperature Gauge Fluctuation: The temperature gauge of your vehicle may also fluctuate if the thermostat is partially open/closed. In this case, a replacement is surely needed.
