[northern'01]

I'm new here and I hope you guys can help.My '01 1500 5.2 auto 4x4 is eating thermostats. I have tryed cheap ones, expensive ones and they all fail.Anyne have any experiance with this problem my dealer says to replace it but I think they should last longer than 6 months.Thanks for the help

 

[LoudRam]

Sounds like you need to flush and fill your cooling system. Have your radiator flow checked too.

 

[northern'01]

sorry I forgot to say I flushed the cooling system this summer and I found no blockages and the rad was flushed at the same time

 

[dhvaughan]

i've never heard of a vehicle that ate thermostats. i seen some that were DOA (easy to test in the kitchen in a pan of boiling water), and i've seen some fail early (1-3-6 months) but i've never heard of them failing back to back to back in the same vehicle. I had an 88 dodge caravan and i put several cheap autozone thermostats in it, but they usually laster 2-3 years. a thermostat is pretty simple. i can't think of anything on a truck that would influence its life span. not coolant, not air pocket, not how hard you drive it, not how fast you go. i think its just bad luck. don't buy a lottery ticket.

 

[abossram]

Tell us how you know they fail and what symptoms show when they fail, overheating or what. And who is putting them in-any chance they were put in backward? Is the spring side in the engine? The reason I ask is it also seems bizarre to me. Thermostats have two basic fail modes--stuck open or stuck closed. And I suppose partly open or closed. Interesting!!

 

[DODGEIT]

When I replaced my stock t-stat for a 180 degree the stock t-stat fell apart when being removed from the intake manifold. It was running fine but had I not replaced it it could have either overheated or pieces could have traveled through the block causing damage.

 

[northern'01]

hey guys thanks for the response . heres the deal the first t-stat was stock the second was a fail safe the ons that stay open if they fail the third and forth were fail safe i just finished putting a dodge t-stat in because after some research and three t-stats i have found out that a fail safe t-stat will stay open after the engine heats up hotter than its rating of 192 in my case. my advise don't use fail safe t-stats