Car running very rough and died on the highway in neutral

[blackcivic11]

Alright so Ive gotten the P2181 code and I know I have to change my thermostat.

Yesterday it was -25 and the car sat outside a good 9 hours, on my drive home from work it was surging badly through acceleration and on the highway when I'd clutch in the rpms would drop all the way to 0. When i got into stop and go traffic the car would not die in neutral and was not surging as much under acceleration.

after 2 hours of sitting outside upon my return, I started it up and the car worked perfectly fine, no stalling on the highway or surging. This morning as well car was running fine.

What would be the cause of this?

[fly300kts]

Simple.....She is haunted

Phil

[schirm]

I would say it has to do with your thermostat. That's why you have a CEL for it.

[blackcivic11]

Simple.....She is haunted

Phil

I <3 these posts,

thanks Phil


I would say it has to do with your thermostat. That's why you have a CEL for it.

Theres no check engine at the moment but could the thermostat malfunctioning even cause such a symptom?

[schirm]

I <3 these posts,

thanks Phil



Theres no check engine at the moment but could the thermostat malfunctioning even cause such a symptom?

I had a bad thermo in my A4, I let it go for quite some time. It really made my car act up sometimes.

[kegobeer]

I <3 these posts,

thanks Phil



Theres no check engine at the moment but could the thermostat malfunctioning even cause such a symptom?

You won't get a CEL until the P2181 has happened quite a few times - a single occurrence won't trigger a CEL. Do a scan and you'll see it, though.

[schirm]

And please keep in mind running with a bad Thermo is not healthy for the car at all. Get that fixed ASAP.

[AbigFern]

Simple.....She is haunted

Phil

i have to agree with this

[B72011]

The DIY is out there---its not a hard one---except for the hard pipe and its access---tedious. Oh and that stupid triple square bit.......why choose that fastener--I dont get it.
REPLACE the o-rings as well!
New coolant---flush with distilled water a few times and she'll be happy.

[blackcivic11]

Thanks guys, I've been running with the bad thermo for 2 weeks or so now, I plan on doing it saturday.

The check engine has come up maybe 3 times but I scan it and erase it once it comes up so as of right now it hasn't come back on (but the temp gauge never gets to 90 and usually holds between 50-80)

I've also seen the DIY and it doesn't seem too bad, Im just curious about that triple square bit, what does it fasten? Is this tool easily found in hardware stores?

[Axis]

I have triple square's if you want to borrow them, if not they can be found at CT or any auto part store.

[blackcivic11]

I have triple square's if you want to borrow them, if not they can be found at CT or any auto part store.

Thanks man thats very generous of you, if they have them at Canadian Tire I'll prob just buy some since it'll probably be good to have haha

[gavin_j]

I haven't seen triple square at CT in years. Maybe different out east though. Definitely worth investing in. You should be able to find at any tool shop.
They use it in quite a few places. I have 3 different sets that I've bought over the years to fit in different places.

Sent from my One X using Tapatalk

[groundround]

damn i just replaced my alternator a couple weeks ago and have a thermostat. Today the car temp did not reach that high for the first time, think it's on it's way out :(

[blackcivic11]

anyone know what size is needed for the thermostat?

[schirm]

damn i just replaced my alternator a couple weeks ago and have a thermostat. Today the car temp did not reach that high for the first time, think it's on it's way out :(

Yeah sounds like that, when mine was bad it did that, and if I floored the car right after the needle would drop all the way to cold then go back up.

[fly300kts]

Thermostat life will last at list the TB life if circuit is correctly filled with G12 only so I don't understand why when the TB is done, you don't install the complete kit

Phil

[konarider94]

The DIY is out there---its not a hard one---except for the hard pipe and its access---tedious. Oh and that stupid triple square bit.......why choose that fastener--I dont get it.
REPLACE the o-rings as well!
New coolant---flush with distilled water a few times and she'll be happy.

I thought the thermostat bolts are regular hex bolts. They actually have a hex and allen head in one from what i remember. I just did my timing belt on saturday and iirc i only used the triple squares on the crash bar and the crank pulley.