so this morning I started the SC up early to warm up a bit before I took off for work. its 19 degrees outside ugh. when I got into my car to leave the check engine light was on. everything seem alright and the light not flashing so I thought I would stop by AutoZone to have code read. was told t stat code. and that makes since to me cause the temp gauge didn't hardly move off cold on the way to work. I noticed this once before when the temp dropped pretty low but didn't think anything of it. so looks like ill be putting in a t stat today. thankfully its easy to get to .

 

If the thermostat is stuck open then it would take a long time to heat the engine up.
That being said did your heater work at all . If the thermostat was stuck partial then it would be hard to tell. If it were stuck closed you would know it in a very short time. In very cold weather the thermostat would start out in the raised position allowing for some flow. As engine warmed up the thermostat would expand and that would restrict flow and then when temp reached the thermostat would open more to allow for more flow. I would be surprised if your thermostat was actually bad.Let us know

 

If it is indeed the thermostat, it is really quite easy and cheap to fix. You can find an OEM thermostat on Amazon for $18. Or go to Advanced Auto, but I would stick with OEM.

There are three 10mm screws on the thermostat housing )kind of a triangle in terms of shape). Make sure the car is cool. Take it off and some coolant with rush out, but not too much. Just pull out the thermostat and put in a new one, replace the gasket, and put back together. Add some coolant and check for leaks. Tighten but don't over tighten the 10mm bolts.

Will save you hundreds...

 

And make sure that your anti-freeze mixture is correct. If you had a half-frozen slushy mix you can get what you described.

 

Yeah no big deal. My other car runs without a thermostat actually. It's an older obd1 car though

 

yes heat worked fine. im pretty sure its just stuck open. i left work for a bit to run to the bank and didn't use heater. thank goodness for heated seats. the temp gauge showed to be at normal when i got to bank . but when i left bank i used the heat and watched the temp gauge, it didn't move much off the cold side. and still had heat. i think for such a cheep repair i will go ahead and replace just to be on safe side. thank you for your info.