FYI FORD MustangSteve's Ford Mustang Forum / Here ya go MS.........

**Posted by 6sally6** 9/30/2024 7:09 PM

We ALL lose stuff under the hood sometimes.......but !

Last edited by 6sally6 (9/30/2024 7:10 PM)

**Posted by MS** 9/30/2024 8:42 PM

That was intentional to prop it open so they could drive it home. Just pull the hose and stick a twig in there and reinstall the hose.

**Posted by Rufus68** 9/30/2024 9:07 PM

Interesting... first time I heard of needing to do that. But to be honest, in all my years I haven't had a thermostat fail. I've replaced old ones but they didn't completely fail. They just didn't work properly.

**Posted by MS** 9/30/2024 9:37 PM

I had one stick shut years ago on a Boss 302.
Drove home with a screwdriver stuck in the tstat.

**Posted by Ron68** 10/01/2024 1:20 AM

I had one where the spring broke on a 76 Granada with a 302. It never closed and the engine never got up to proper operating temperature.

**Posted by RTM** 10/01/2024 5:20 AM

For a temp fix to get home it sure looks like whomever did that decided to leave and not replace it.

I never thought about doing that and I had thermostats fail when I was younger. Aren’t they all pretty much fail safe now where they fail and stay open?

**Posted by TKOPerformance** 10/01/2024 6:23 AM

I had one stick in my wife's KIA (last time she got to pick her own vehicle). I was on I95 heading to BWI to pick her up. I jumped off at Perryville, MD exit and dumped gallons of water over the engine and radiator and refilled the radiator to get it to cool down. I limped it back home on RT40 and she ended up having to take the train to Wilmington. Then I had to fight with the service manager to get the repairs covered. Fortunately the dealership's comptroller was a family friend. I picked it up, drove that POS to the Subaru dealership and traded it for my WRX (which I scouted and test drove while the POS was in the shop).

**Posted by BobE** 10/01/2024 8:12 AM

I've had three thermostat failuires, one was stuck open (I beleive this is rare), one stuck closed until the engine got really hot, then opened and this kept cycling back and forth on my 20 mile ride home, the last stuck in some mid-condition, it was winter and as long as I kept a lower speed the engine remaining cool enought to get me home.

**Posted by Greg B** 10/01/2024 10:46 AM

I've had two over the years. One in an 89 caravan, the other was the 2016 Mustang, the dealer fixed under warranty. They mentioned there was a whole bad batch of thermostats..

My best roadside fix ever was in my 1964 Ford Falcon. My heater hose broke and I cut the hose in two, put spark plugs in the ends and clamped them. Then wrapped electrical tape around them. Which I know now I did not need to do. But I was 17 at the time, so what did I know?

Last edited by Greg B (10/01/2024 10:47 AM)

**Posted by Rudi** 10/01/2024 11:07 AM

On a November trip home and an overnight stay in WV I woke up to freezing temperatures in
morning.
I tried to warm the car up to get the windshield cleared thinking it would eventually warm up so I headed for home after figuring out the fail safe t stat was stuck open.
After about a half hour of driving with no heat I pulled over at a convenience store and got a piece of cardboard to put in front of the rad.
Even with the rad fully blocked off the engine barely warmed up just enough to get a bit of heat into the car.
Good thing the t stat was not stuck closed.

**Posted by 6sally6** 10/01/2024 12:59 PM

Y'ALL ARE MISSING THE HUMOR INTENDED IN THIS POST !!!!...(Geeesh "car guys"!!)

**Posted by Rufus68** 10/01/2024 6:07 PM

It was funny.... but also fascinating.

**Posted by Greg B** 10/01/2024 6:10 PM

6sally6 wrote:
Y'ALL ARE MISSING THE HUMOR INTENDED IN THIS POST !!!!...(Geeesh "car guys"!!)

Found the missing 10mm?

Back in our day it was the 3/8 socket!

**Posted by 50vert** 10/01/2024 8:03 PM

Rudi wrote:
On a November trip home and an overnight stay in WV I woke up to freezing temperatures in
morning.
I tried to warm the car up to get the windshield cleared thinking it would eventually warm up so I headed for home after figuring out the fail safe t stat was stuck open.
After about a half hour of driving with no heat I pulled over at a convenience store and got a piece of cardboard to put in front of the rad.
Even with the rad fully blocked off the engine barely warmed up just enough to get a bit of heat into the car.
Good thing the t stat was not stuck closed.

I was at Cameron Trading Post AZ one December morning, when a guy asked me for a jump start. He said the fan belt had started squealing for 3 hrs before the battery ran flat and it stopped, while driving during the night.
I asked him if he'd lost the fan belt or the alt had died. His explanation was that the water had frozen, while driving, and stopped the waterpump from turning, causing the alt to not charge!! WTF! Is that even possible??

Last edited by 50vert (10/01/2024 8:06 PM)

**Posted by 6sally6** 10/02/2024 10:23 AM

I've 'heard of' water freezing in a battery butt...that was while parked!
Water freezing in a running engine..weeeeell ...not so much !
6sal6

**Posted by TKOPerformance** 10/02/2024 12:50 PM

Yeah, I don't think that's possible. The water pump may have seized, that I would believe. AND, its not uncommon to refer to something seized as having "froze up".

**Posted by Nos681** 10/02/2024 2:12 PM

Found it Sal.

Last edited by Nos681 (10/02/2024 2:13 PM)

**Posted by MS** 10/02/2024 5:08 PM

Normal tstats are not fail safe design. Fail safe units are more expensive and harder to find. The local auto parts counter monkeys just looked at me funny when I asked for one.