Thermostat or Fan

[JazzeCouture]

Has anyone on here had there thermostat or fan replaced and if so what am I looking at cost wise? My car is starting to run hot when idle but it would cool down when going 40mph but now after a wk it wont cool off when over 40. I haven't been driving it for fear of causing any other damage but I did drive it to the mechanic on friday and he thought that it was the thermostat. I have to drop my car off tmrrw nite so he can chk it out on Monday. He said it will take a couple hrs b/c he has to unhook everything to get to the housing where the thermostat is.

[CREWZIN]

It's true what the mechanic is telling you that a few things have to come apart, even more if it's the fan motor.

But ask him this: What happens if it's still overheating when you replace the thermostat, will the money you spend be taken off the labor charge if the fan motor needs replacing?

You say he "thought" it was the thermostat. So he's just guessing at this point. I'll tell you right now, from the hundreds of owners that had overheating problems, probably 90% had fan motor problems over thermostat replacements.

Do this. Open the hood and see if you can spot the fan. It's a little hidden behind the housing but see if you can see the blades and where they are located as they are standing still. Now start the car (hood still up) and put the air-conditioning ON. Now go look (carefully) at the fan again and see if it's turning. It's hard to see but you won't see the blades standing still anymore. If the fan is not turning it's a good indication the fan motor is burnt out.

If it is turning, you mechanic just might be right with his guess. You won't know until you test it out when he's done. There's still other things (relays or ECM) that might be bad if it turns out that the thermostat doesn't solve your problem.

Please let us know when he changes the thermostat if that solved yor overheating problem.