telijah
09-20-2013, 04:52 AM
I'll start with the question and then give the background, in case someone does actually know this: Is there any way possible that a failing DISA could affect the operation of the thermostat?
OK, I will start about a year and a half ago, at the beginning of relevant info. I started throwing a code for the exhaust cam shaft position sensor. Around the same time, I noticed my car took a while to warm up and was throwing the code that indicated I had a t-stat stuck open. Both are no biggie yet. I had a shop in February replace my alternator because I am lazy, and he clued me into a very very small coolant leak in the radiator. It required me to maybe put in a pint of coolant every month or so. Still, no biggie for me.
Starting last month, I started getting very rough idles and if I idled rough long enough, it would misfire when accelerating. I figured "welp, that cam shaft pos sensor finally needs to be replaced". So, since the head was stripped on the screw for the CPS, I had the same shop swap out the sensor, but he tells me that wasn't the source of my idle problems. He said the gasket for the DISA was bad/causing a vacuum leak. I took it home to fix it myself, but upon pulling the DISA out, the flap was falling apart, so the whole thing needed to be replaced.
So, Tuesday, I finally replaced the DISA, which definitely fixed my idle and improved the way the car acted between shifts... I'm loving my car again. I cleared the codes and went on my way. That night, the temp went slightly past 12 oclock, so I pulled over, added coolant, and continued.
Since then, I have not thrown any codes again, not even the t-stat code, and I am noticing now that the temp gauge on the dash is going to 12 oclock much quicker... as if there was never a problem.
I am usually the one to tell people that cars just don't fix themselves, so I am wondering, if anything I had recently done, may have also been causing the temp not to reach normal operating range?
OK, I will start about a year and a half ago, at the beginning of relevant info. I started throwing a code for the exhaust cam shaft position sensor. Around the same time, I noticed my car took a while to warm up and was throwing the code that indicated I had a t-stat stuck open. Both are no biggie yet. I had a shop in February replace my alternator because I am lazy, and he clued me into a very very small coolant leak in the radiator. It required me to maybe put in a pint of coolant every month or so. Still, no biggie for me.
Starting last month, I started getting very rough idles and if I idled rough long enough, it would misfire when accelerating. I figured "welp, that cam shaft pos sensor finally needs to be replaced". So, since the head was stripped on the screw for the CPS, I had the same shop swap out the sensor, but he tells me that wasn't the source of my idle problems. He said the gasket for the DISA was bad/causing a vacuum leak. I took it home to fix it myself, but upon pulling the DISA out, the flap was falling apart, so the whole thing needed to be replaced.
So, Tuesday, I finally replaced the DISA, which definitely fixed my idle and improved the way the car acted between shifts... I'm loving my car again. I cleared the codes and went on my way. That night, the temp went slightly past 12 oclock, so I pulled over, added coolant, and continued.
Since then, I have not thrown any codes again, not even the t-stat code, and I am noticing now that the temp gauge on the dash is going to 12 oclock much quicker... as if there was never a problem.
I am usually the one to tell people that cars just don't fix themselves, so I am wondering, if anything I had recently done, may have also been causing the temp not to reach normal operating range?