[tony_perreault]

Hi All -

Have a question about the symptoms, if any, of a dying thermostat.

The car in question is a 2004 PT Touring Edition, approx. 52000 miles.

Within the last month we have had to replace the water pump (which blew on the way to the dealer to get it worked on!) and the timing belt. Other than that, there have been no major issues with the Cruiser.

Today, however, there has been an issue.

At lunch time, when my wife went to start the Cruiser after being parked for several hours, the needle on the temperature gauge went to the top and "binged" at her, then it dropped back down to a hair above midline. This afternoon when she went back to work, she said that the needle would oscillate between redline and the hair above midline, taking about a block driving distance to cycle back and forth.

I told her that this sounds suspiciously like the thermostat is dying / dead. Years ago I had a little Subaru XT Coupe that would do the same thing. I would start the car and the temp. gauge needle would peg then drop down to about midline and then cycle back and forth. Replaced 4 thermostats in the span of a year, never did find out what was the cause - changed out the radiator, did a full flush, wired the aux. cooling fan to run all the time - it cycled until the day I traded it in. Never overheated, though.

So, am I correct in assuming that the symptoms are a dying to dead thermostat? The dealership that we go to work on the car is about 80 miles away, most of that interstate driving. We were planning to take the car in on Friday, but should we think about getting it towed up? (Have AAA Plus coverage w/ 100 miles of free towing.)

Thanks!

Tony Perreault