So, long story short, my car was overheating whenever I was stuck in traffic and I diagnosed it as a bad heat sensor (the one in the thermostat housing).

I got a replacement at the junk yard and all is well (I think, haven't really tested it).

I got to wondering, what exactly is it that breaks in these things?

So I took it apart!

Here are the insides;


Really quite basic. From left to right you see. The bottom housing, the thin metal disc (this is actually where all the magic happens, when it is heated to a certain temperature it changes from concave to convex), the inner plastic housing, the pin (this gets pushed up by the thin metal disc when the temperature is right), and finally the switch itself.



The issue with my unit was that when the switch was closed it had an intermittent and very highly resistive connection. Simple fix really, I took some fine sand paper to it and then used some of everyones favourite epoxy to close it up again.



Tested it and it works great!

 

I saw the title and thought you were calling me names

Nice to know what "really" goes on inside those things.....and to know I'm not the only one who has "cooked" parts on the stove before.

Nice to see you around again...take care.

 

Lol. I saw the title and I thought trademark infringement. J/K.

Edit: I guess my username is suspect . . .

 

Haha, sorry Poorman, didn't mean to steal your moniker.

I hope this little write up will help some poor sucker some day.

 

Good post and pictures..Thank You!

WheelBrokerAng

 

Yes, I too hope it will help someone.......I'm pretty sure you know Redbull and I were just joking around , we have to have a little fun every now and then.

Again, good to see you around again....must be getting cold up there.

Take care.

 

Yes, I was just joking around. I did like this thread with pictures. Thanks.

I like tinkering with things too.

 

Yup, I'm a hardened internetist, I know whats up