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Good afternoon all.  I have a 2013 spark, that this winter the heater would only work for a short while, then go cold.  Last week the check engine light came on, yesterday my air conditioner quit working and then today the car overheated.  No leaking of the coolant that I can see, and the coolant Reservoir doesn't seem to be leaking.  I have been told that my thermostat is stuck, but not by a licensed mechanic.  I often find that when I take my car to dealer, I am told that it is something very costly, only to have the fix not be the problem and end up it's something much cheaper that the original 'diagnostic' (has happened 3 x at Pace Chevrolet in Huntington Indiana so far, costing me alot of money, so I don't trust them anymore which is very sad).  Does it sound like the Thermostat to you out there ? I plan on buying the part and taking to another mechanic that I do trust.  

any advice is appreciated.  I love my spark and have it serviced as needed.  I just can't afford forking out alot of money for unnecessary costs, and find, as a female, if I go to the mechanic with a good idea of what is wrong, they usually play fair with me. 

thank you all

 

P.s..  since I am new to the site, I will let you know where my user name comes from.  My spark is a Pink (techno pink) spark. when I drove it home, my son informed me it looked like a nipple, so her name is the Nipple :)

 

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31 minutes ago, lovemynipple said:

if I go to the mechanic with a good idea of what is wrong, they usually play fair with me. 

 

 

That is a very crucial point you make. If you are going to own a car, you have to learn as much as possible about potential car problems. From personal experience, one Chevy dealer mechanic in Cicero, IL diagnosed the loud hammer sound from my engine was due to busted rod bearings. He prescribed an engine overhaul, which is quite expensive. I read a good car manual book, and determined it was more likely a problem in the valve train. Visited another dealer next day, and sure enough it was a bent rocker arm. Cost of repair was 5% of an engine overhaul. 

 

Never walk into a repair shop and say "My engine has a problem" or "my transmission has a problem". To be fair, when I diagnosed exact problem and THEN went to a dealership, they repaired it pretty nicely.

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The problem is throwing parts at an issue isn't cheap either. The Spark doesn't use a conventional thermostat so its more costly then the old style $5 ones. It could be a thermostat, clogged radiator, fan issue, clogged hose somewhere, or various other things. You said the check engine light came on. What code is it showing? Autozone will read the codes for you for free so that would be the place to start. 

Edited by Ray Dockrey
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All good advise from the above posters but it does sound to me like the thermostat is the most likely issue since your heater is random hot/cold. Spark has electronic thermostat but as posters above have said, take it to a proper mechanic for a problem like yours and by process of elimination they can find and fix the specific cause of the issue. Codes will help them and a stat test is a good starting point for them. Many cars today have electro thermostats so a trusted mechanic/shop should be able to diagnose that pretty quickly with a good description from you. BTW..Your A/C issue is also related to the thermostat as it will not turn on if the coolant temp is too high.

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