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Re: Temp gauge drops to zero and CEL Posted by pme [Email] (#1496) [Profile/Gallery] (more from pme) on Fri, 29 Sep 2017 06:06:57 In Reply to: Re: Temp gauge drops to zero and CEL, gmcgrath, Fri, 29 Sep 2017 05:29:00 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
From Stant's website:
"HOW A THERMOSTAT WORKS
-- When the engine is cold, the thermostats is normally closed; restricting flow to the radiator allowing the engine to “warm up”
-- As the engine warms, the increase in heat causes the wax to melt and expand, pushing against a piston inside a rubber boot
-- This forces the piston outward, opening the thermostat so coolant can start to circulate between the engine and radiator
-- As heat increases, the thermostat continues to open until engine cooling requirements are satisfied
-- If the temperature of the circulating coolant begins to drop, the wax element contracts; allowing spring tension to close the thermostat, which decreases coolant flow through the radiator"
The last part is what I think is germane here. Even with a stuck open thermostat, in warm weather your engine may be reaching temperature or something close enough. The A/C, however, will activate the fans, which will in turn reduce your coolant temperature. If the thermostat is not reacting to this cooling down as described above, and the fans continue to run with the A/C, the temperature may drop low enough to cause the gauge to drop to 0 and the CEL to set.
Even though the thermostat is pretty recent, they do go bad or can be defective. I'd start with that.
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