Description
My upgraded aluminum housing thermostat for a 2014 Chevy Cruze decided to overheat my car after only 2 months, so I take it apart to see what went wrong. This thermostat works by the engine coolant heating up wax in sealed piston/cylinder arrangement, which pushes the actual thermostat valve disc open. A spring keeps the valve closed until the hydraulic pressure of the expanding wax has enough force to overcome the spring, and open the disc to allow coolant to flow to the radiator to cool the engine. There is also an electric heater built in that allows the engine control computer to add extra heat to the wax to cause the thermostat to open more quickly, or allow the computer to more accurately control the engine temp. Sounds great in theory, but in practice this seems to be a very weak link in the design of these engines, causing no end of troubles!