Lately i've noticed that my temp gauge has been all over the place, and bought myself a new thermostat. After putting off the thermostat replacement until last night, i found that my rad hoses are being sucked together. I ended up topping off the radiator and was on my way. Now with a full radiator it is still sucking the rad hoses together. Should i go ahead and replace the thermostat or is there something else to be looked at?

 

update: got the system flushed and had a new thermostat put in. Now it is acting worse than before, temp is all over the place and never consistent. not sure if the water pump and fan clutch need replaced next along with the thermostat again or what the deal is.

 

i had same problem i replaced t-stat and was all ok after that, are you in colder climates? if so your coolant may be froze if it wasnt mixed right and blocked the line

 

yea its cold, but never acted this way before, i just want to get it taken care of, dont want to cook the motor

 

mine did this in the summer so i just took the thermastat out until it got cold then i bought a new one and never had any more problems with it.

 

i had to replace a fitting near the thermostat housing a few months ago, could air be getting into the system causing the unstable temp or is it something else. i will have to look into another thermostat, but it seems ridiculous that you have to replace the "new" thermostat with another one

 

If you got the t-stat at a place like Auto Zone or any other chain store, there's certainly a possibility that it is defective. The quality of non-OEM brand parts can be iffy.

You could also have air in the system. Try bleeding it and see if that helps.