did you boil the old one to see if it was opening or not?

Still need to go to the thrift store and get an old pot. I feel weird about using my regular cookery to boil car parts.

It's as straightforward as it sounds, yes? Bring water to boil, drop in thermostat, see if it opens?

Well you should probably get a thermometer to see if it opens at the right temp, because it might be opening late

oh jeez.... lmfao

you would be amazed at what "cookery" i have "improperly used"


place the thermostat in boiling water, if the thermostat opens, this confirms the thermostat is able to open
remove the thermostat from boiling water, if the thermostat returns to the closed position, this confirms the thermostat is able to close

I'm just sayin'. Logically, I know that I'd just need to give whatever pot a good cleaning afterwards, and it'd be fine. I'm still OCD about it, though.

Will report back with findings. *nods*

you would probably tell me you don't figure out what's leaking in the driveway by dipping your finger in it and tasting it either huh?

...just updating this, for the folks playing along at home.

KoJ, FMX: yep, the old theromostat itself is fine. Opens in hot, closes when it cools back down.

I'd pressure test, but it's kind of obvious where the coolant is leaking; once it gets hot, it's venting right at the radiator cap.

On Civics, there's a small fluid reservoir off to the side of the radiator, and the boiling hot coolant is steaming out of that, as it vents into the reservoir.

What'cha guys thinking? Think the water pump has sh!t the bed?

wait, how old is the radiator cap?


also remind me again of what it is youre driving?

Replace the cap if you haven't. If it isn't holding pressure the coolant will boil at a lower temp. It's a cheap/easy thing to eliminate.

This post was edited by FMX_89 on Jul 25 2016 05:29pm

Finding a cap that fits has been a pain in the ass.

So, a while back, there was that incident where the neck of the radiator got grenaded. There's some aftermarket radiator on there now, and the sidewall of the cap is apparently taller than standard OEM caps. Haven't found one yet that'll seat on the existing radiator.