Thermostat Replacement

[Ethiridos]

Hey everyone,

This morning that I was driving to work something bad happened. I looked at my dash and noticed the battery icon lit on along with the temperature gauge pointing all the way to Hot.(Luckily I was only two blocks away from work) Now, I am sure that my car had plenty of cooling fluid since I checked it last Saturday. So I turned on my heater all the way on high but only cold air was coming in.

When I pulled into the parking lot, I let the car running and opened the hood. The first thing I noticed was that some coolant was leaking through the driver's tire. Well....the reservoir was steaming and the coolant inside was boling...not to mention that it was way past the "Full" or "Max" line. I did not what else to check on so I called my buddy who is a mechanic. He said that since I was not getting any heat it's most likely the Thermostat that decided to stop working.

Has anyone replaced this? If so...how hard is it to do? I need to do this today in my lunch hour else I am going to be stranded here. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[TheDoc]

I'm not sure I agree with your buddy.

There's a couple of different things that could have happened.

If your battery light had not come on, I may have guessed thermostat, but the fact that it did makes me think otherwise.

I would take a look and make sure the belt on your water pump is still there... Judging by the litany of things you've said happened, I would assume that you lost a belt. The battery light coming on, the temp gauge spiking, and the coolant overflow... The battery light indicates a low battery, obviously... the temp gauge and the coolant leak means you've overheated...

The fact your heater core isn't working tells me that there's no coolant in the system. Your coolant system is pressurized and if it's boiling then it's going to appear full. After the car's cooled down you want to look and see if there's anything in the reservoir at all. My guess would be not.

I don't know how the Proteges are laid out but I assume that like most modern cars you have a belt that turns your water pump and alternator and you've lost that.

If all your belts are there... other things to consider are blown coolant hose, blown head gasket (from driving constantly hot)... then thermostat. But that's more of a general automotive guess rather than knowing common protege-related problems.

As an added note, you should never drive a hot car.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[bgibb68]

the thermostat for the coolant line is easy to replace.....on the 2.0 it's on the belt side of the block on the upper coolant line....2 bolts and out it comes.....

 

[Ethiridos]

You are truly amazing!

Yes, on a second inspection I noticed the alternator belt snapped and just disappeared thus the overheating and the other stuff. So...had that installed. Proty is fine now. Thanks a lot guys!

I'm not sure I agree with your buddy.

There's a couple of different things that could have happened.

If your battery light had not come on, I may have guessed thermostat, but the fact that it did makes me think otherwise.

I would take a look and make sure the belt on your water pump is still there... Judging by the litany of things you've said happened, I would assume that you lost a belt. The battery light coming on, the temp gauge spiking, and the coolant overflow... The battery light indicates a low battery, obviously... the temp gauge and the coolant leak means you've overheated...

The fact your heater core isn't working tells me that there's no coolant in the system. Your coolant system is pressurized and if it's boiling then it's going to appear full. After the car's cooled down you want to look and see if there's anything in the reservoir at all. My guess would be not.

I don't know how the Proteges are laid out but I assume that like most modern cars you have a belt that turns your water pump and alternator and you've lost that.

If all your belts are there... other things to consider are blown coolant hose, blown head gasket (from driving constantly hot)... then thermostat. But that's more of a general automotive guess rather than knowing common protege-related problems.

As an added note, you should never drive a hot car.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[TheDoc]

You are truly amazing!

Yes, on a second inspection I noticed the alternator belt snapped and just disappeared thus the overheating and the other stuff. So...had that installed. Proty is fine now. Thanks a lot guys!

Hey, no problem. Glad I could help.

It's kinda my job. I take breakdown calls for a trucking company.

Good to hear you're up and running again.

 

[Ethiridos]

Yup, I did not even hear the belt snap or anything. Glad I was like 3 lights from my job.