I’m not a car guy. I want to be. I’m learning. I learn by making friends with mechanics and absorbing their information. I had a car a few months ago with some overheating issues. (Got it resolved. No water in my coolant at all, using straight concentrate in a brand new, empty radiator, like a dingus. 🤦🏼♂️) But before I fixed it, someone said it might have been the thermostat. I asked a mechanic friend of mine about it. (I haven’t known him long.) He told me he’s been a mechanic for right around a decade and has NEVER seen a thermostat issue cause overheating. Is he just totally out of touch? Or did I misunderstand how the cooling system of a vehicle works? Let me know.
Never seen it is one thing, that could happen. If he doesn’t believe its possible, that’s an issue. Thinking that rules out possible problems based on opinion impairs good diagnostics and troubleshooting.
On anything unusual or complicated, good diagnostics and troubleshooting are vital. I’m much closer to retirement than starting my career, and over the years have seen this many times. It seems like some people are just better at troubleshooting than others. I’m not sure how much it can be trained as it is almost a way of thinking, not a set of knowledge.