So one winter I realized my heat was not working very well at all and the gauge on my dash always read that the engine was cold. Turns out a thermostat broke (fortunately it had a fail-safe). It's purpose was to determine when the engine was warm and needed cooled. Since it was broken, coolant was constantly running and cooling my engine. My bro-in-law fixed this and parts only cost $21 but I'm not sure how much would be charged for labor at a shop.
Update from Jul 22, 2016: It should also be mentioned that there were times that my car did not want to shift into its highest gear and I am fairly certain that this issue was the cause. Only happened during the time my heat did not work and never happened again after the thermostat was replaced.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
So one winter I realized my heat was not working very well at all and the gauge on my dash always read that the engine was cold. Turns out a thermostat broke (fortunately it had a fail-safe). It's purpose was to determine when the engine was warm and needed cooled. Since it was broken, coolant was constantly running and cooling my engine. My bro-in-law fixed this and parts only cost $21 but I'm not sure how much would be charged for labor at a shop.
Update from Jul 22, 2016: It should also be mentioned that there were times that my car did not want to shift into its highest gear and I am fairly certain that this issue was the cause. Only happened during the time my heat did not work and never happened again after the thermostat was replaced.
- Daniel C., Mentor, OH, US