The reason why you are not rich

Frankly speaking, the reason why you are not rich is not because you haven't tried getting rich. The real reason why you are poor is simply because you don't know how to get rich. I am not talking about some get rich-quick schemes that will make you poorer than you were before you joined. Get this right, there is nothing like pay 10$ and earn 50,000$ a month. To start with you can never buy your way into riches.

The simple fact is, you have all the tools within you to accomplish your life long dreams of living the kind of life you want without being bothered by small things like bills to pay. If you can live your dream life, most likely you will be in a position to help others realize their dreams. So lets start with you. First of all lets look at some traits of people who will never make it in life, at least in as far as making money is concerned:

1. Insecure people. These people are always doing things to secure their positions. This is mostly in work place. Some people always want the boss to know how good they are. They always want to be the ones to take credit for any achievement. They don't want to share what they know with others at their work place. They fear that if  someone else gets to know what they know, they will be considered dispensable. They never want anybody to rise to their level of expertise. What they don't realize is that the moment you become dispensable, it is simply a time for you to climb one more ladder step in life into a new area where once again you will be indispensable. Just get this, if you want to hold someone down you also have to stay down with them. Strive to make yourself dispensable at all time and you will realize the magic in it. First people will love you. Naturally when you share, people will like you. Second you will start setting yourself up for higher goals. Sadly some people are so good at what they do but so mean with it that actually no one ever realizes how good they are. Remember the world owes you nothing, if you don't show the world what you can really do for the world, no one will pay you to show it. First show the world what you have got, and the world will in turn pay you for it. The converse never works. If you insist, you will die with your music in you. You need to play that lovely music to the world!
2. People looking for money. This is the category in which so many of us are found. This precisely explains why 90% of the world's wealth is in the hands of 10% of the human race. A simple fact is when all your instincts, judgement and wisdom get clouded by the desire to get money, then whatever you come up with will never be worth a cent. Put people first in whatever you do and you will never look for money in your life. It is simple, if people are satisfied with your product or service, you will never beg them to pay for it. Even if they are genuinely unable to pay for it, they will pass word round and you will get other people who will pay.
3. Doing something you are really not good at. People do things they are not good at for several reasons. One is they believe, it is the in thing to do. I remember when I was in high school every one us wanted to become a doctor. We viewed medicine as a prestigious profession. Few of us really had the actual calling necessary to become a doctor. Being a top national school, we were all bright, no doubt about it. But how many of us, despite qualifying for medicine, even having done it today, would say they are really happy with what they are doing? Just because you can merely qualify to do something doesn't mean you do it. If you really want to know how passionate you are with what you do, ask yourself this, "If it were not for money, will I be doing this today?" If your answer is no, just know you will only be making enough money to pay your bills for a long time. Your calling lies somewhere untapped but you are too scared to go for it. Second reason why we do things we don't like is because of some imagined sense of security. We feel we have a salary, we can pay our bills, we can educate our kids. I agree this is really very important to us, especially when we have to take care of our families with our pay check. But really our families should be happy if we are really doing what we love to do. Life is not all about money. Actually the paradox is, when you stop thinking about money and start living, money will start coming!
4. Mediocrity. I will define this as simply passing time, lack of dedication, just being lazy and doing a shoddy job. Sorry to say, but this is what happens in most government offices. Someone gets paid a salary but does not deliver up to expectation. Not that these people cannot deliver, they have the ability to do so but simply are lazy about doing it. When something goes wrong they are very quick at looking for scape-goat routes. They have zero dedication for what they do. They would rather chat away whole day with their friends rather than do what they are supposed to do in office. They are a major contributor to product and service failures in companies since if in front office, they will not handle clients well. They are a major pain to work with. On the flip side it may mean company management is not motivating its staff well and hence most people resort to mediocrity. But my advise is, if you think this company is doing so badly, then don't waste your time there, you can actually build a company that will beat the current company you work for. Just learn from the example of Yahoo and Google. Google rose from nowhere and overtook the giant search engine Yahoo. It is very simple Google new what they were doing and still do, Yahoo din't. Needless to say, mediocre people never make much money in their life time.

Therefore to summarize everything and give you one answer as to why you are not rich today, I will say this. You have not discovered what you are good at, and if you have, you have not yet given it your best.

How to make your car sturdy on the road

Ever tried to drive a car with the following characteristics:

1. wobbles on the road
2. Noises from the front
3. You take your hands off the steer wheel and the car starts drifting to one side
4. The car seems to develop vibrations after a certain speed
5. When you break hard, you don't feel the well cushioned rubbery firmness, instead you feel like some metal just rubbed on the road
6. car always has some distant vibrations which can be felt on one wheel

The obvious culprits for these symptoms are, in the order given above:

1. Completely worn out shocks
2. worn out ball joints, rubber bushings, front shocks
3. check wheel alignment, ball joints
4. check wheel balancing
5. worn out rubber bushings, ball joints, front shocks
6. Make sure to have tires with same tread pattern

Safe driving tips on Kenyan high ways

It is really sad to imagine the number of lives that we lose every month on our roads. Thousands others are left maimed for life, partly or completely incapacitated to be able to engage in any nation building activity. The effect is multi-pronged; first in case of fatalities, families are left without bread winners, second there is an ever increasing demand for specialized treatment to such injuries as spinal injuries. As you are all aware, especially from the current campaign of, BRING ZACK BACK HOME, we do not have a centre to take care of spinal injuries. You can imagine the suffering to these patients without any treatment on site, especially those who are unable travel all the way to South Africa or Egypt, in which the nearest spinal code injury treatment centres, are located, to receive treatment. Third there is reduced or no productivity at all from the accident survivors depending on the extent of their injuries. 


So we all know careless driving can end your life and the lives of others or leave you maimed for life. Consequently we all resolve to drive carefully, observing every rule we learnt at the driving school. Always keep left; never overtake on a continuous yellow line, round corners, etc. Is that all it will take to arrive alive? Well, as much as this will guarantee our safety on the road, we have to wake up to the grim reality that there are those drivers that may decide to ignore these rules and endanger the lives of other road users including ours. This could be a public vehicle driver more intent on making more money than on the safety of the passengers. It could be a young driver and his friends wanting to show off to his friends how fast his sports car can move. And all enjoying the thrill of the speed and throwing all caution to the wind. Here are a few things you can do to stay safe despite all the madness on our roads. 

Climbing lane is not labeled Lorries only

I once had a near death experience. I was climbing one of the many hills just before Narok on the Narok-Mae Mahiu road. I was doing about 120km/h having come down at almost 150km/h on the opposite hill in order to gather enough momentum to climb the other. This is usually a common but rather risky habbit of most drivers when a road goes over adjacent hills or valley escarpments. You accelerate to very high speed when climbing down one side in order to gather momentum to climb the other side. Well, there was a bend on the climbing side so I couldn’t see much of the oncoming traffic. The climbing lane was free but I kept to the middle lane which is rightfully my lane.  Just as I negotiated the bend I came face to face with two giant buses occupying the two right-most lanes leaving out only the climbing lane and coming down as though the devil himself was right behind them, each trying to outdo the other. Needless to say, I was on a head-on collision path with one of the beasts. What happened next I really can’t say I was in control, a Higher being was. Mind you my entire family was inside that car. You can imagine what happens when you make a near full turn of the steer wheel on car moving at 120km/h in a fraction of a second with merely a whisker to spare. Everybody is screaming in the car and you can feel the agonizing eternity it takes as the cars suspensions are pulled to the limit on one side and compressed to a dead end on the other as the entire weight of the car is shifted of from one set of suspensions to the other in the swerve and counter swerve maneuvers. My luck was that the climbing lane was free and had room to swerve to. The car made about three nerve raking swings before leveling out and leaving me completely shaken and my passengers in utter disbelief of what had just happened. From that day on, I usually keep to the climbing lane if it is free and only get out of it when overtaking. From this incident I also learnt that just a fraction of a second of concentration when it matters most can be the difference between life and death on the road.

Use the overdrive button when going downhill

I stand corrected but I believe all automatic cars, which have now become so prevalent, have the overdrive button. This is a push button normally located on the upper right side of the gear shift lever of the automatic car. Overdrive is normally on and will be switched off when you press this button. A display O/D OFF on the dashboard appears after you press this button, indicating overdrive is off. This basically serves to cut out gear four of the automatic car. The car can now only go up to gear three. If you have driven an automatic car downhill you will notice that even if you took your foot completely of the gas pedal, the car will still accelerate. Instead of you resting your foot on the brake pedal to regulate speed, simply press the O/D button. This will limit the car’s speed to about 100km/h. This speed will remain constant; you can take your feet off the gas and breaks. Never drive at high speed downhill for the same reason Lorries move at snail’s pace downhill especially when loaded. Just know that in the grand scale of things, your car might be small and easy to maneuver but when you are going full speed downhill then the mechanisms of your car break and suspension will be stretched to a breaking point in case of an emergency just as the lorry will not be able to break from its sheer weight. I know airplane wings are tested to stand double the weight of their intended operation load without breaking, but I have not heard of someone testing the car’s breaking system on top speed with double its load and going downhill. So keep to what is a safe speed. Use the O/D button. If you want an even lower speed, simply pull the gear lever to 2 on the gear shift panel. This will limit your speed to about 60-80km/h and you can take your feet off the gas and break. Under normal driving conditions make sure the O/D OFF is not displayed on the dashboard. O/D OFF display during overtaking can be detrimental. This is because your car will struggle to hit a top speed needed to overtake a fast moving vehicle.

Garbage in, garbage out principle

The brain is one of the most complex computers; making man’s most advanced computer a child’s play. But just like all computers, the brain gives output based on the input and its state of service. If your computer is infested with viruses which have corrupted its memories and other vital functionalities, you don’t expect much service from it. If the inputs devices like the keyboard are faulty or missing some keys, again you might end up keying wrong info for processing.
Overtaking of another vehicle on the road might seem like a simple task. But if we imagine the number of head on-collisions that occur then we might as well try to keenly study what goes on through the brain when overtaking. From this it will also serve to help us know in what state your brain should be in order to execute a safe overtaking. The main receptors to the environment are our eyes and ears. We need to look ahead and see that the road is clear enough. The car is also fitted with two side mirrors and a driving mirror to enable us accurately see and judge how far behind and approximate the speed with which the traffic behind us is approaching and whether it wants to overtake. Sometimes we may forget to look on the mirrors and just want to overtake or worse still a vehicle might have begun overtaking without us noticing, and therefore no longer on the field of view of the mirrors, especially those bathroom mirrors that we fit on our cars after thieves have made away with the factory fitted mirrors. The bathroom mirrors have very narrow field of view and you might miss or have difficulty seeing traffic that wants to overtake you. Be extra careful when using these mirrors. In case you deviate from your lane the overtaking driver may honk on his horn. Needless to say you need to be attentive to all sounds around, both from your engine and any other external sound. Please don’t drive with blaring music as you will be clouding one of your most important receptor on the road, the ears.  There might be an oncoming vehicle and the brain needs to judge its speed and distance and compare it with our current speed and the speed of the car we want to overtake and make an accurate guess that if we accelerate to a certain speed we will be able to overtake safely and be out of the way before the oncoming traffic reaches us. If your brain misjudges any input here or misses out a certain input required to judge whether it is safe to overtake or not, then this is a recipe for disaster. The brain functions at its optimum when it’s free of any corruption. Corruption of the brain functionalities is brought about by such things as alcohol, loud noise, sleep, fatigue and other factors that may lessen attention. When the brain fails to make an accurate judgment, you are likely to end up on a head-on collision. If you have any doubt on whether you will manage the dash before the oncoming traffic reaches you, don’t attempt it.

Fuel saving tips

With the cost of living rising every day, it is time to consider how much you are spending on fuel for your car. Ask yourself whether every drop of fuel that goes into the tank gives you real mileage. Do you fuel your car only to spend half of it in rapid accelerations and abrupt stops?


Let me explain a few principles that will perhaps help you save fuel if not making you a better driver.

THE LAW OF INERTIA

This law simply states that any physical object will resist change to its state of motion or rest. This tells you that a stationery object needs a lot of force to start moving and equally a moving object requires a lot of force to stop it from moving. Of course this force is relative to the size of the object. Thus it requires more force to move a bus from 0km/h as opposed to a Vitz. However irrespective of  the size of your car, you will always spend more fuel to start it moving from a complete stop as opposed to fuel needed to keep it moving. Again it will need more fuel to accelerate to a higher speed as opposed to accelerating to a lower speed and leveling out. Therefore a fuel saving tip here would be to try and minimize the number of stops you make. How can you minimize the number of stops? Start by anticipating the stops. Why should you accelerate all the way up to the traffic lights or the back of the track only to hit the brakes hard. Drive moderately on slow moving traffic and you will find yourself crossing the the traffic lights without stopping. The lights will always be green for you since you are not trying to beat them. So by the time you arrive at the next, it has also turned green. In fact as you near obvious stops like round-abouts and junctions, lift your foot of the gas pedal and let the car slow down naturally.


Once again if you are not on high speed, the energy spent breaking the car is less since the resistance to stop is not as high as when on high speed. Here you also have a direct saving on your break pads. They don't have to endure so much force.

WORK DONE

In Physics, work done equals the mass of a body multiplied by the distance travelling by that body. The point to note here is, two bodies that travel same distance but have different masses require different energy amounts to cover same distance. This very easily explains that your car will consume more fuel on a full boot than when the boot is empty. We all love travelling upcountry and filling our car boots with food items when travelling back to town. Do yourself a favour and make sure you get all items out of the boot before you resume the normal trips to office in your car. At this point your might consider co-sharing fuel costs with all your friends that you always give a lift in your car! You might also want to re-consider the wisdom of always having your tank full when on short trips like going to office and back. Do you really need all that load of fuel? Just make sure your fuel gauge does not fall below the quarter mark but certainly I wouldn't advocate for a full tank on office-to-home trips. Unless of course you have to drive 200km every day!

DENSITY

The time of day you fuel your car can determine the amount of fuel you get in terms of mass. The fuel pumps measure the fuel in terms of volume. Therefore on cold morning hours you will get more mass of fuel for the same volume since the density is high. V = m/d (V=volume, m=mass, d=density). Volume being constant, mass has to increase with increase in density in order for the pump to measure same volume. Unlike when fueling during hot afternoon hours, when the density of fuel is so low. This simply means you get a lighter load of fuel. certainly you will cover more mileage on a heavier load of fuel as opposed to a lighter one on the same price. Take this analogy, you have a glass full of raw popcorn seeds and another full of heated and puffed up popcorn seeds. They both have same volume but weigh completely different because of the parking density of the seeds.

The overated Toyota NZE and underrated Nissan B-15

Is it really true that Toyota NZE is better than Nissan B-15? 
Well to answer this question I will base it on my experience, travel and my own research. I will compare NZE and B-15 that have equal engine capacity (1490cc).

Nissan Sunny B-15

Toyota Corolla NZE

My experience
First to start with experience I already told you that my first car was a Nissan B-15 What some mechanics will tell you, part I. This was despite of all the efforts by my friends to convince me otherwise. I bought the car with a mileage reading of 83,000km. Right now the mileage is 140,000 km.
I replaced the rear shocks in july 2011 and front shocks in january 2012. I have also replaced the ball joints bushings, tie rods and battery once. Other than that for the 50,000 km on that car, the only other expense has been normal service (oil, plugs, air filter, oil filter). There is no place I have not gone with this car.


In july 2011 I bought a Toyota NZE year 2004 with milleage 43,000km. Today the milleage is 60,000km. I went with it to Mbiuni (near Kangundo - Ukambani), it broke the steering rack end. I have also replaced the rear shocks and battery.


Toyota NZE feels much lighter than Nissan B-15. when I check the weights, Nissan B15 2002 model is 1,100 kg. Though later models are lighter. Nissan B-15 year 2003 is 1,050 kg. Toyota NZE 2004 is 1,030kg. 


I know for sure Toyota NZE is better on fuel economy than Nissan B-15. At the current price of ksh. 120, I will spend 400 on Nze for me to get to work and back home with all the traffic jam. But for Nissan B-15, I will need ksh. 500. this is for a total distance of 30km.


NZE have done a good job in the seats. They are really raised and very comfortable. you dont feel like you are seating on the floor. Unlike its predecessors, the Toyota 110 and 111 which were also so crammed together leaving no spaces for legs. The NZE may look small on the outerside but it has an amazingly big room inside. It has enough leg room and nice comfortable raised seats.


Unfortunately the B-15 seats are low and not so comfortable. The steering for the Nissan B-15 is much firmer as opposed to NZE which is so soft, you can almost turn it with one finger!


NZE engine employs VVT-i technology ( Variable Valve Timing with intelligence - developed by Toyota). This has the advantage of lower fuel consumption, lower exhaust emissions and higher power output. But you need to understand that all modern engines use the same technology with different terminologies. The general name for the technology is "Variable valve actuation (VVA)". For example Nissan first developed their own form of VVT 1986 with the VG30DE(TT) engine.


The response of NZE when picking up is amazing perhaps because of its weight. However you will never catch a B-15 after it has hit 120km/h. It like begs you to push it further. Again I realized it is much easier to break an NZE without the tires screeching than a B-15. Again I think this should be because of weight. Overal NZE has good response in picking up and stopping but maybe abit shaky at high speed. On the other side you may want to be careful with B-15 when you hit top speed as stopping will not be so instant. B-15 may also tend to rev more than NZE when picking up. 


From my travelling
Now based on some travelling I have done. In Rwanda a Nissan is a rare site. Reason being they are so expensive there. So everybody is driving a toyota. In Uganda, same thing, Toyotas are prevalent never mind the year. I think they don't have age limit on imported cars in Uganda. Same thing to Tanzania, more Toyotas.
Over to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). If you see an NZE or B-15, take a photo and send it to me. Those guys use Mercedece C class as taxis! Infact I will talk about cars in DRC in another post.


So what about Japan where both brands are actually manufactured? Well ordinary Japanes people view the two cars as same and buying one in place of the other is merely a matter of personal preference.


You are actually paying for the Toyota Logo
My conclusion: NZE should cost same B-15. There is nothing so special about Toyota NZE. So why are you paying so much for the Toyota logo?

Cars of 2012

Cars of 2012 A to Z

Nissan Patrol 2012

Toyota Land-cruiser 2012

BMW X5 2012

Audi q7 2012

Land Rover defender 2012

Land Rover defender 2012

Land Rover defender 2012

What some mechanics will tell you, part II

what is the most you have ever spent after a mechanic misdiagnosed your car? 


Car will not go past 60km/h
In my first case I had to deal with a night mare of my car hitting 60km/h then reving like hell if I pressed it harder. Prior to this incident, the car was all fine until I did a major service that included changing the ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid). This fluid has a number of duties in the transmission, including lubrication, cooling, and clutch application. There are literally dozens of different fluid types, each with a specific set of friction modifiers to meet the requirements of the hundreds of different transmissions on the market. 

Some ATF brands

Using the wrong type can affect your transmission’s performance and longevity. Apparently the mechanic had used some wrong type for my car. The wrong ATF had cost me ksh. 900.
I went back had this drained out and spent another ksh. 1,700 for the right ATF after checking the transmission dipstick. After that the car was able to go all the way up and past 60km/h without any problem.
Using the wrong fluid in today’s transmissions will affect transmission performance in the short run. And it can cause the transmission to fail by providing inadequate lubrication and friction modification. So it’s very important to make sure you’re using the fluid your transmission is designed for.


How can you tell which transmission fluid is right for your car? 
Check the owner’s manual or transmission dipstick. They should both provide a detailed specification for the fluid type required.


How to check Automatic Transmission Fluid
If your vehicle hesitates when your automatic transmission shifts gears, check the transmission fluid level before you let any mechanic start talking about servicing or adjusting your transmission or selling you a new one. To check your automatic transmission fluid, look for a dipstick handle sticking out of your transmission.

Front wheel drive engine

To check your automatic transmission fluid, follow these steps:

1. Pull out the dipstick. With the gearshift in Neutral or Park and the parking brake on, let your engine run. Be sure the engine is warm when you pull out the dipstick. (Don’t turn off the engine.)
2. Check the fluid. Dip the tip of your index finger into the fluid on the dipstick and rub the fluid between your finger and the tip of your thumb. The transmission fluid on the dipstick should be pinkish and almost clear. If it looks or smells burnt or has particles in it, have a mechanic drain and change the fluid.
3. Wipe the dipstick with a clean, lint-free rag; then reinsert it and pull it out again.

Squeaking noise
In the second case, I started hearing some noise coming from the front right side of my car. This noise was more pronoused on rough roads. This is not the kind of noise produced by worn out shocks (usually a nocking sound when you hit a pot hole). This is a squeaking noise. You know like the one you get from those loosely fastened beds or some chairs and tables in offices when you turn on them. So I went to the mechanic to have the car checked up.


After doing what looked like a thorough investigation, the mech came up told me, my wheel bearing was bad. Phew! I felt a relief because I thought at last the problem had been identified. 

rotor and clipper

bearing and steering knuckle

I went and purchased a new bearing (ksh. 2,500), went to the press and had it pressed into the steering knuckle (ksh 500). Back to the mechanic, he assembled the whole system back and charged me ksh. 1,000 for labour. Total ksh. 3,500.

new bearing

new bearing pressed into knuckle

The following day I drove to work and the car was all quiet. But in the evening the enoying sound was back! I called the mechanic and told him the same problem was back. He went like, the bearing was bad but the car must be having some other problem. I decided to forget the mechanic and visit service centre where the car could be inspected for any signs of damage to the control arms, suspension, etc. That is when I realized the right control arm bushings were worn out.

control arm

different types of control arm bushings

I have since had the bushings replaced and the car is noise free now.

What some mechanic will tell you, Part I

My first car

I have owned my first car for three years now. A Nissan B15, year 2001. Needless to say, when I was buying this car back in the year 2009, everybody told me "Toyota" is the only car. Well it is now three years down and I have no regrets for buying a Nissan.


But what I will say basically applies to all cars. One advice I got from some mechanic was that immediately I get the car, I should have the thermostat removed. I was told that the thermostat is not meant for tropical countries like Kenya. Again I did not listen to the constant calls to remove the thermostat. I can assure you that up to this moment my car's cooling system is still intact.


However this is not to say that I have always had a smooth ride with this car for the three years I have had it. But certainly I have learnt valuable lessons.


Overheating

Let me talk about overheating which is something you will often see on Kenyan roads. It is almost a common phenomenon to see a car by the road side with its bonnet open and steam jetting jetting out from the radiator top. Even people who have not owned cars will tell you, "hiyo imechemuka". Simply meaning the car is overheating. Frankly speaking except for some brands like Range Rover or BMW I have basically seen every car brand with this symptom. But most notable are: Subaru Forester, Mitsubishi Pajero (old models).


Let me give you some background. Internal combustion engines used in all modern cars are very inefficient. This is because not all chemical energy from fuel is converted into kinetic energy to move the car. A lot of energy is converted into heat. Much of this heat does not help the car in moving. That is why all cars are equipped with gadgets that help dissipate this heat. Otherwise the engine will destroy itself. Most internal combustion engines have an efficiency between 18%-20%. Rocket engines have better efficiency, up to 70%. Because they operate at very high temperature and pressure. Needless to say, a car that runs hotter will most certainly be more efficient than one that runs cooler.


ECM/ECU

Modern engines are equipped with an Engine Control Module/Unit (ECM/ECU). This is actually an embedded computer in the car that ensures the optimum running of the engine. It receives input from a multitude of sensors interprets the data using multidimensional performance maps (look-up tables), and adjusts the engine actuators accordingly. One example is during a cold start. The ECU reads a low temperature from the coolant temperature sensor, The computer sends a signal that allows a rich flow of fuel-air mixture (more fuel, less air) to the combustion chamber. If you are keen enough you will notice that during cold start, your engine will almost be racing (high rev because of rich mixture). Immediately the engines heats up, the fuel-air mixture becomes lean (less fuel, more air). The engine audible revs reduce to a quiet hum.


What does the thermostat do?

This is a very important piece of gadget within the engine. And yes it works in all weather. Though its importance is much noticed in cold climates. It ensures that the engine is running at the right temperature it was intended to run at. This is the optimum temperature at which fuel consumption will be most efficient. If this device is missing or malfunctioning, the engine risks running too hot or too cold or not at all and hence will never achieve its intended fuel efficiency. 


I will just explain in layman's terms how the thermostat works. During a cold start the thermostat shuts coolant flow to the engine. This means the engine will warm up quickly hence allowing the ECU to quickly signal a lean fuel-air mixture to the combustion chamber. Once the engine has reached the rated operating temperature, the thermostat starts opening and allowing the coolant from the radiator to start flowing in hence preventing further rise in temperature. However with time, the coolant itself may become hot and therefore unable to cool the engine to its rated operating temperature. At this point the ECU reads a high temperature on the coolant temperature sensor and switches on the radiator fan(s). This cools the coolant in the radiator and hence the engine is able to run at a constant temperature.

Engine Coolant temperature sensor (ECT)


Points you should note about a thermostat and cooling system in general:

1. The thermostat helps the engine reach the operating temperature faster thus saving on fuel and internal wear.
2. If the radiator fans mechanisms has been interfered with so that they are always on and the thermostat has been removed, the engine will never reach optimum operating temperature (will always run cold). Fuel economy will be poor. This is because the ECU will always think the engine is in a cold start mode and hence more fuel, less air.
3. Have a faulty coolant temperature sensor replaced. Running with a faulty coolant temperature sensor causes the ECU to signal a default fuel-air ratio which in most cases is not economical. You might also have trouble during cold start.
4. A stack closed (never opens to let coolant into engine) thermostat will cause your engine to overheat as no coolant will flow into the engine. (This is the most sited reason for removing the thermostat. But this is more like staying in the house and starving to death for fear of being attacked by a lion if you go hunting!)
5. A stack open (never shuts coolant flow into engine) thermostat may cause problem during cold start especially in cold climates as cold coolant is always flowing into the engine. This is the same as a thermostat that has been removed. The engine will also take longer to reach operating temperature. This means faster wearing out of engine parts.

Watch out for part II of this article.