Re: Erratic temperature gauge

[steveb@falcon.kla-tencor.com (Steven Buchholz)]

 # system.  This weekend, I realized that it was time to change the coolant
 # and decided that I should take this opportunity to check the thermostat
 # itself.  I was amazed to find that the thermostat itself was physically
 # broken  ..... the "arch support" was broken on both sides of the thermostat

... I had a problem with the thermostat on the '88 5kCSQW where it would 
stick closed.  I purchased the replacement from the dealer, and made a 
pleased mental note that the replacement was exactly the same manufac-
turer as the original.  It wasn't too long after that when we were 
driving home from visiting relatives at Christmas, late at night, with 
the air temperature below freezing when I noticed the windows starting 
to fog up ... I turned up the defrost, but noticed that the engine 
temperature was well below the bottom of the normal operating range ...
AAMOF pretty much on the cold peg.  If it were to happen to me again I 
would have put something in front of part of the radiator, but we con-
tinued to drive home with the windows down.  Obviously the thermostat 
failed ... when I pulled it out it was broken in a similar way as you 
describe.  If I ever have to replace it again I'll get the replacement 
from a non-dealer source!

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)
... preparing the car for another Christmas trip ...