thermostat in 2005 pontiac grand am, Can I just not have one in my car????? I know it will take a long time to heat up... But I;m on my 2d one
Asked by Sweetcaroline2u Jan 31, 2014 at 07:52 PM about the 2005 Pontiac Grand Am SE
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Can I just take it out??? It keeps meesing out... I changed it 2 times now... I know On
older cars you can do it.... So can i ?
10 Answers
You can do it but it will not have any heat.
Running without a thermostat is not advised. It can lead to overheating in the summer months. Plus your engine is designed to operate at a certain temp and without the thermostat it will not be at proper temp for peak performance.
I prefer Auto Zone myself. But as tuff stated it really doesn't matter as long as they are new and oem.
The thermostat allows the car to reach operating temperature quickly, and then regulates the flow of coolant to keep the engine at that temperature. Without it, your engine will first overcool and then overheat, the ECM will run rich, causing early engine wear, your emissions will go into the "fail" area for inspections, and you can actually do some serious damage to internal machined surfaces. It is incorrect to say you can run older cars without a thermostat, unless you're talking about cars made before 1937. I know it is done all the time by people who claim it's okay. You won't hear from them later. Get the cooling system properly checked out, have it flushed, and make sure there is no air trapped in the system.
Thank you ,Thank you Norm ! I went and got a new one today, the old one is out and getting ready to put the new one in... Holy Moly...I'm going to dirty.
running too long without a thermostat or broken thermostat can cause your catalytic converter to collapse.. a buick i had did.
I learned a trick years ago and have done it ever since -- when I put in a thermostat I drill a couple small holes in it -- this helps the air get out when refilling and lets the motor run a little cooler alll the time -- I figure this single thing helps account for my many vehicles running still strong after 200K miles and more.(and Autozone is crap about half the parts I bought from them were bad out of the box -- it was crazy)
