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I Wasn’t Sure That Was Going To Work

May 9, 2022

In fact, I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to work.

My lovely wife drives a 2005 Yukon. It’s our “big” car while I drive a 1994 Toyota Corolla. When we are running errands together we take her car. Last week it was overheating. Just driving around, the coolant temperature would spike. It even started displaying COOLANT HOT in the display screen.

Do you know what you do when your car overheats?

First you check the coolant level. If that’s okay, the second thing is to replace the thermostat.

So, Saturday morning, it was off to the parts store to get a new thermostat and then to Walmart to get orange antifreeze.

PRO TIP: Don’t buy your antifreeze or oil at the auto parts store. You’ll save a lot of money by making a second stop at Walmart.

Every auto repair has three stages

  1. Disassembly
  2. Repair
  3. Reassembly

And the quickest of the three is the actual repair. I pulled off air filters and disconnected radiator hoses and just to get to the thermostat housing. It has two bolts. Once it’s out, then it’s a simple job to clean up the area where the seal sits. And replace the thermostat.

Then, it’s reassembly. That’s is sometimes the longest part. After I got it all put back together, I started the engine and let it run.

I was actually surprised when the temperature went to 220 and then didn’t budge.

Maybe my mechanic knew what he was talking about.

I’m just glad it worked.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren. Order Miscellany II, an anthology including his latest short story, “The Mercy System” here

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