BT wrote:
> On Jul 3, 6:14�am, jim beam <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>> BT wrote:
>>> Original radiator. And still in good condition according to the
>>> dealer. All hoses are fine too. Their hypothesis is that the
>>> thermostat went bad.
>> if the thermostat goes bad, the gauge will show. �if the coolant level
>> drops, the gauge frequently won't. �as grumpy says, with the engine
>> cold, you need to regularly check coolant level in the radiator, /not/
>> the expansion reservoir - any leaking means the bottle stays the same,
>> but the coolant in the radiator disappears.
>
> Good call. The last time I checked the radiator itself was about 4
> weeks ago when I did an oil change. It was fine at that time. And the
> dealer said the coolant level was fine when they checked it. They also
> couldn't find anything wrong with the thermostat, but suspect it was
> stuck at some time, which may have caused the damage. This would be
> the original thermostat. How long are they expected to last?
>
> I dunno. It seems like the head gasket just gave up the ghost because
> of age or something. Do they have an expected life-span?
>
> BT

not usually. occasionally one is just defective, occasionally there is
a head/block machining defect, but most of the time, it's thermostat
which in turn is much less common than coolant loss.