Do modern cars have a thermostat in the engine cooling system or is controlled these days electronically? I was talking today to a lad about the first little fix up job on my astra 20 years ago, replacing the radiator thermostat. We both couldnt decide if cars have them now or not?

Yes, they have them.
It's a simple and cheap method to control the engine temperature.

....as Alex said YES they have them....and of couse some manufacturers spoiled this by using electrically controlled thermostats or using more than one....making this system complicated and expensive

alex_pescaru wrote:

Yes, they have them.
It's a simple and cheap method to control the engine temperature.

looks like it's at the flywheel end of the engine Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

seems to be easy acces, 4bolts and few hose clips and temp sensor cable.

maybe if buying whole thermostat it includes new sensor also

id like to hear some advices before taking steps to ordering new one and installing it.

i think also that my pre-heater, diesel. running all the time, trying to reach the temp but won't get it because of faulty thermostat

Hello,


has enybody tried aftermarket thermostats like Gates for example?
Any recommendation or experience?
My dealer has quoted 330 € for a genuine one including fitting, kind of too much...

Thanks for sharing,

Pal

Yeh I’ve had a few in recently the parts alone for the mk7 golf were £335 and took around three hours to change was a bit excessive for a thermostat in my opinion. This one was controlled by a motor and sealed off by a ball valve.

Also done one on an insignia and it worked the same as a conventional thermostat but instead of the water heating it up it’s controlled by a heating element.

So yeh looking like everyone is going electric in these days.

I almost always use aftermarket parts on all makes and models of cars with very little boomerang jobs. Only time you have issues is with buckshee brands, stick with repretable brands and you should be fine

I bought this one from ebay and so far so good. You can even replace it yourself, it's not very dofficult, but it is very messy job as you have to drain cooling system, and you need a special tool to unscrew these bolts holding the thermostat in place

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/182490330545