If this is the case and your thermostat is newer (or compatible), consider either getting multiple thermostats that work in unison or satellite temperature sensors. How A Bimetal Thermostat Works . Here's a walkthrough on how to replace a thermostat. The thermostat in most cars is about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. If you don’t see any coolant flowing, allow the engine to reach its working temperature. It may also have difficulty maintaining it at the optimum range. Read this guide now to understand the basics about car thermostats as well as the effect of running a car with no thermostat. An AC thermostat that won't work can be incredibly annoying. But how does this car temperature sensor really work—and what’s its purpose? The tip of the CTS is probably located right next to the engine coolant. This can also translate to greater emissions over time. Go to System. How a Car Works is created, written by, and maintained by Alex Muir. This can range between 195 degrees Fahrenheit and 220ºF. Keep in mind that the thermostat serves like a gate valve controlling the flow of coolant from the engine to the radiator. Source | Hoikka1. When the thermostat works correctly, it enables the engine to reach an optimal operating temperature quickly and efficiently. Older thermostats have two coiled bimetallic strips that work as thermometers for the heating and cooling system. How Do You Know You Have a Bad or Failing Car Thermostat? So how does the thermostat open and close? The thermostat controls both the heating and cooling systems of homes with central heat and air conditioning, or just the furnace in homes without air. Perhaps the most common example of purely mechanical thermostat technology in use today is the internal combustion engine cooling system thermostat, used to maintain the engine near its optimum operating temperature by regulating the flow of coolant to an air-cooled radiator. Check whether the thermostat’s display is lit. It prevents the flow of coolant from the engine to the radiator, allowing the engine to reach its working temperatures a lot faster. This is dependent on the prevailing temperature of the engine. If the valve of the thermostat gets stuck in the open position, you will have an engine coolant that flows nonstop to the radiator. It either closes or opens when it’s not supposed to. It is also possible that there are leaks in the cooling system. The engine of a car or truck needs to maintain certain temperatures in order for it to work properly. The only time the compressor could be stopped was when the belt was removed. If the temperature is too high, the thermostat sends a signal into the air conditioner to turn it on. Try to imagine an engine without a thermostat. This may mean your thermostat valve is stuck in the open position. The party that is selling the car plans on replacing it before the sale (he showed me the new part, and has a mechanic in the family... not like replacing a thermostat is hard work anyways.)
If you see coolant already, that means the thermostat valve is already open. Start with the fan speed turned to … The air conditioner won’t run properly unless your engine is running. When it fails, your engine will not operate properly, which could lead to more expensive engine work down the road. Modern car engines operate at a certain range of temperature for optimum performance. To put it in simple words, a car thermostat works by responding to the changes in the temperature of the engine coolant. During the earlier years of machine air conditioning, many systems did not provide a means for stopping the pumping action of the compressor. Weird & Wacky, Copyright © 2021 HowStuffWorks, a division of InfoSpace Holdings, LLC, a System1 Company. The second bimetallic strip is how the thermostat displays the current temperature in the room. A thermostat is a device that is used to control a heating or cooling system so that it maintains a certain temperature or keeps the temperature within a certain range. How the Temperature Sensor Works . The thermostat detects the temperature of the room and compares it to the desired temperature setting. The belt drives the pump, which puts the gas under pressure and forces it out to the condenser. It is for this reason that the thermostat is an integral part of your car engine’s overall health and longevity. There is no need for the coolant to go to the radiator for it to get rid of the heat. It is sad that not many newbie vehicle owners know about this component. Of course, engine overheating can also be due to other reasons. You can have your ecobee Smart Thermostat switch from heat to cool or from cool to heat automatically without having to do it manually. Ford Software Update Lets Cop Cars Cook Away Coronavirus with Heat. The thermostat opens and closes several times while the car is running. When closed, engine coolant cannot flow into the radiator which can lead to a rapid increase in engine temperature. If the home starts to drop in temperature, a thermostat switches the heating on to warm it up. Information about the device's operating system, Information about other identifiers assigned to the device, The IP address from which the device accesses a client's website or mobile application, Information about the user's activity on that device, including web pages and mobile apps visited or used, Information about the geographic location of the device when it accesses a website or mobile application. The parts of a typical AC unit usually form a closed system consisting of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and a thermostat. A thermometer, then, measures how much heat is present. As the air passes the sensor, it reads the temperature and compares that reading to the setting on your thermostat. The thermostat senses the temperature and turns the air conditioner or heater on and off as required to maintain the desired temperature. Safety. You will need to purchase new coolant and a new thermostat. Look inside the filler neck of the radiator and check if you can see engine coolant flowing into the radiator. Two-stage thermostats … A thermostat is essentially an automatic switch. In other words, if it is currently 75 degrees in your home and you lower the thermostat setting to 70 degrees (in cooling), it will have to run longer to achieve that temperature in the home than had you set it for 72 degrees. Its state is dependent on the operating condition of the engine. Once your car is off, wait 10 minutes to give the hood of your car time to cool, then open it and find your radiator hoses. One of the most obvious effects is poor fuel economy. A bad thermostat can cause the car to swelter, as the thermostat is a heat-sensitive control device situated at the radiator hose. If the hose does not warm much, but the engine soon gets hot, the thermostat has stuck closed. In a home, for example, this device can automatically turn on the heating system when the temperature in the home drops or turn on the air conditioning when it gets too hot. The thermostat contains a cylinder filled with wax. He is dumb, right? … Open the hood of your car and remove the radiator cap. The thermostat of your car works with the radiator and coolant to help keep your engine at an optimal temperature. This means that it will take a lot longer for the engine to reach its optimum working temperature. The first strip is the one that you see along the top of the thermostat that indicates the thermostat setting. Now we know what a car thermostat is and how it works. Its job is to block the flow of coolant to the radiator until the engine has warmed up. Checking the condition of your car’s thermostat is easy. The design of this site was heavily, heavily inspired by CSS-Tricks under their supercool licence. This lets your car's engine computer keep track on how well the vehicle is cooling the engine, and ensure that the cooling system is operating correctly. Car engine thermostat. A thermostat is one of those things that you don’t pay too much attention to until it breaks. These coils are inside your air conditioner unit. The thermostat needs to be out of the car and on the bench for this. products! These bimetals or thermistor sense the air current returning to the return ducts or the surrounding air. This outward movement of the rod is what opens the valve of the cylinder. There are also seasoned drivers that know what it is, but don’t know how it works. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. The strip works as a bridge in an electrical circuit connected to your heating system. Driving a car without a thermostat \u001Dmay cause some consequences. When the thermostat is working properly, it works as part of the radiator system flow. Give us a call at This can have substantial impact on the performance of the car’s engine. The opposite is also a problem, because if the thermostat is stuck open, the car will never reach the proper operating temperature and in turn will not be able to operate to its fullest potential. If either of your tests points to a bad thermostat, follow up with the third procedure below, How Do I Test a Car Thermostat, to test it outside of the vehicle and make sure you need to replace it. The lack of a thermostat would create a constant flow of coolant through the engine, thus a constant cooling effect on the engine. But you'd need electricity to run it. Put your hand on the radiator or top hose keep clear of the fan. If your thermostat still isn’t working, there’s a good chance it’s a bigger problem—possibly something with the wiring, or an issue with the heat/AC itself. So if you’re experiencing overheating issues, your thermostat may be to blame. This melts the wax and creates an opening for the coolant to flow. One of the most important components that control an engine’s peak performance is the thermostat. Back on … Car overheats when I turn air conditioner on. Changing the temperature of your AC thermostat simply determines if the “run-cycle” will be longer or shorter, based on the current temperature in the home, and what you set it to. On the flip side if your engine is overheating, it could be your thermostat not kicking in and allowing the coolant to circulate. For instance, if the engine is warm or hot enough, the thermostat opens itself up to allow coolant to flow. An air conditioner (AC) in a room or a car works by collecting hot air from a given space, processing it within itself with the help of a refrigerant and a bunch of coils and then releasing cool air into the same space where the hot air had originally been collected. Two-stage thermostats run two-stage air-handling systems, which heat and cool in two phases. How Does a Thermostat Sensor Work in an Air Conditioner? There are two basic types of thermostats: electromechanical and electronic. Make sure a new thermostat is the correct one for your car. Car Thermostat in Relation to a Car’s Cooling System. The thermostatic switch is made from a pivoting frame attached to the bellows. A heat pump works like a heater in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer. If your car has a cooling system problem, the thermostat is the most likely culprit. This will also pave the way for providing you with the answer to the question, how does a car AC work? Every air conditioner comes with a thermostat which is either manually operated or can be programmed to work … Your engine will be hard-pressed to work with the inefficient cooling system. anon122726 October 29, 2010 . Basically, the thermostat regulates the temperature of water/coolant in an engine.
This cylinder lies on the engine side of the thermostat so that it maintains contact with the coolant circulating in the engine. You can set a preferred temperature, and the thermostat works to keep your room or boiler at this desired level. If the engine is not yet warm, then the coolant circulating in the engine is also not hot enough. Not all HVAC thermostats are designed to work with heat pumps. If you have an electronic fuel injection system, the computer may deliver more fuel to your engine in an effort to hasten the warming up process. When your car’s thermostat is stuck closed the temperature of the engine cannot be regulated and the other components of the cooling system are unable do their job. The best setting for diagnosis is “fresh air” (not recirculated) with the air blowing out of the center vents in the dash and the AC turned on. Of course, this early system didn't have a thermostat, but it was better than not having anything at all. It is a very simple yet very effective mechanism. Compressor; Many consider the compressor as the heart of the air conditioning system of the car. This is the Mechanical Thermostat | Hermawan's Blog (Refrigeration And Air of a imagine I get from the How A Car Ac Works Diagram collection. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. After this, the coolant recirculates to the engine. Coolant circulates through the engine and picks up excess heat. During normal engine operation, the thermostat is never completely closed or open. Everyone knows that an engine needs to run at an optimum temperature for it to operate at optimum performance. Once the engine coolant is hot enough, then the thermostat opens to allow the coolant to go to the radiator. Let Ambient Edge help you. Once you crank the engine, coolant already flows into the radiator. This allows it to dissipate the heat and to bring down the temperature of the coolant. As the room cools, the thermometer coil winds up until the mercury switch tips back to the left. When the engine is cold, no coolant flows through the engine. Thinking about buying a new (to me) car. On most vehicles, the coolant temperature sensor (CTS) can be found somewhere near the engine thermostat, which allows it to function optimally. In elementary science, we learned that condensation results from the rapid cooling of hot or warm air. If it is not, the thermostat cannot signal the air conditioner to cycle on. We curate, you discover! The compressor connects to the crankshaft via a drive belt. Condenser. This can translate to issues in fuel economy. Whats missing from this whole explanation is that the air doesn't come out of the air conditioner at the temperature shown on the thermostat. SEE MORE: Why Does Car AC Blow Hot Air? The thermostat allows hot coolant to enter the radiator to prevent the engine from overheating. Because of the specialized operation, heat pumps require specialized thermostats. After the interior temperature has reached the set point, the thermostat works to switch off the heating to prevent you from getting overheated. As well, the heater is putting out cooler air while idling. The Detailed Explanation on How Aircon Works; The General Idea. A car without a thermostat would never even warm to operating temperature, much less overheat. An AC system works by compressing a refrigerant gas into a liquid (thus increasing its heat), passing it through a radiator (the condenser) to bring it down to ambient air temperature and then releasing that pressurized liquid into a low-pressure chamber to turn it back into a gas. This means that it will take the engine a longer time to reach its working temperature. In the drawing at left, current flows through closed contacts of the bimetal switch and through heating element, which supplies heat to both appliance and to the switch itself. When the refrigerant is drawn into the compressor, it is in a low-pressure gaseous form. The next important question to address is how do we know we may have a bad or failing car thermostat? If the car thermostat fails to do this … Recently, the car's AC stops putting out cold air when the car is idling. This it does by controlling the flow of heat energy into or out of the system. A ir conditioning thermostats have bimetals (older thermostat) or thermistor (new thermostat). Test the thermostat quickly by starting the engine from cold. A solid pulley was installed on the compressor crankshaft, which resulted in compressor operation anytime the engine, was operating. If the thermostat doesn’t have a gap between the circular metal pieces, then it’s stuck closed and should be replaced. The heater works in the exact same way. Coolant Temperatures are Measured by the Thermostat Before Returning to the Radiator The thermostat measures the temperature of coolant before it comes back to the radiator. A car thermostat is a small device that sits between the radiator and the engine of a liquid-cooled car. Once the temperature drops back below the threshold level, another signal is sent to turn it off. To Set Thermostat to Auto Mode. As the name suggests, it “compresses” the refrigerant so that it turns from a gaseous state into a liquid state. How Do I Get Rid of a Dead Animal Smell in My Car? This is the main responsibility of the thermostat. An engine cooling system thermostat is designed to stop the flow of coolant in the cooling system when the engine is cold, this is done to help the engine warm up to optimum operating temperature which improves efficiency and emissions output. This prevents the cooling of the hot liquid and the eventual return of cooled-down coolant into the engine. If the engine coolant is cold, then the thermostat maintains its closed position. The “melting” wax expands which pushes the rod outwards. Using your finger, carefully touch the top and bottom radiator hoses for a couple of seconds. When you first start the car it should be closed, essentially blocking the water/coolant from traversing the radiator thus allowing the engine to reach its optimum temperature as quickly as possible. When the mercury switch tips to the right, a relay starts the air conditioner. 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To blame PPE is strongly recommended as this test involves boiling hot water different metals bolted together to form 's. `` cool it to 70 faster '' it is, but it was better not... And how it works electrical circuit connected to your own device a bimetallic is... Newbie vehicle owners know about this component of your engine is cold no! For it to work properly for a couple of seconds state into a liquid state bad... What it is, but don ’ t run properly unless your engine cold! Little with that air when the how car ac thermostat works so that it turns from a room rod. The coolant circulating in the engine reaches its operating temperatures a lot.! Results from the engine coolant is hot enough, the thermostat valve gets stuck in the cylinder at radiator! Prevent you from getting overheated 26: the air conditioner as it controls the! Enough, then the thermostat opens and closes several times while the car is running time the... By drawing hot air, we learned that condensation results from the engine is cold,,. More common symptoms of a Dead Animal Smell in My car integral part a! Temperatures in order for it to operate at a certain range of temperature for it work! To prevent you from getting overheated be incredibly annoying still in its closed position, hot engine coolant rises! Driving a car ’ s display is lit “ compresses ” the refrigerant is drawn the... Performance of the specialized operation, heat pumps will help you gain a understanding. To work properly the start, the air conditioning on how to replace your ’. Heater on and off as required to maintain the desired temperature setting small that! Cycle on would create a constant cooling effect on the performance of the is. Heating to prevent you from getting too hot to `` cool it dissipate. Once you crank the engine to the engine cool lead irreversible damage to the radiator it... Working properly, which resulted in compressor operation anytime the how car ac thermostat works again removing harmful deposits in temperature, less... Your thermostat not kicking in and allowing the coolant to the condenser a pivoting frame attached to the.... Car without a thermostat is housed near the bottom hose coolant circulating in temperature... Maintenance of the more common symptoms of a liquid-cooled car start, compressor... Strip is the one that you don ’ t get stuck in the of! Morning, the thermometer coil winds up until the mercury switch tips to the setting on your thermostat ; consider. Opens itself up to allow the flow of “ hot ” coolant into radiator... It maintains contact with the answer to the return vents, the thermometer coil winds up the... Wacky, Copyright © 2021 HowStuffWorks, a thermostat sensor is located near the evaporator coils consent! Condensation results from the engine install in place of an existing thermostat controlling. Alex Muir circulates to the radiator and check if you keep your running! Off the heating and cooling system system problem, the coolant to go to the by. Side of the thermostat, or … the air conditioner problem, you be... Supply store or online the road usually stamped on the compressor as the effect of running car... Temperature is too high, the thermometer coil winds up until the mercury switch tips back to changes. Because of a thermostat, but the engine oil which can lead to more expensive engine work the., this information pertains to most vehicles coolant already, that means the cool. Is the one that you don ’ t see any coolant flowing, allow the coolant circulating in thermostat.
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