Does a thermostat regulate the temperature of the coolant or just control the flow of coolant?

It does not directly regulate the temperature but regulating it by way of controlling the flow of the coolant. Bigger flow results to less temperature and smaller flow leads to higher temperature.Does a thermostat regulate the temperature of the coolant or just control the flow of coolant?
The thermostat regulates the TEMPERATURE of the coolant by regulating the FLOW of the coolant! In a 'cold' engine, the thermostat should be 'closed'. This 'slows' the FLOW of the coolant, so that the engine will warm-up quickly! As the engine, and the coolant WARM, the thermostat OPENS, so as to distribute ALL of the HEAT from the engine, into the radiatior, and, into the AIR that flows through the radiator!





If the thermostat 'sticks' in the OPEN position, it will take 'forever' to get 'heat' to the INSIDE of the vehicle! If it 'sticks' in the CLOSED position, the vehicle may overheat, in surprisingly short order!





One further note...





The water-pump must be doing it's job... If not... it can be hard to decide whether or not the thermostat is good or bad!Does a thermostat regulate the temperature of the coolant or just control the flow of coolant?
got to say the answer to your question is yes to both but only when starting,it doesnt regulate the temperature when the engine is hot, what the thermostat does is when the engine is cold it closes and isolates the majority of coolant in the system,,there is only a limited amount of coolant available when a cold engine is started(it therefore warms and heats the engine up much quicker)as the engine warms the thermostat expands and allows more coolant to enter the system gradually.


without the thermostat it would take several miles of driving before your engine reached its working temperature
The thermostat regulates the temperature of the coolant. This is it's primary job. It does it by regulating the flow of the coolant through the engine and radiator
flow flow
In a way it does both. Thermostats open at a set temp, such as 195 degrees for example. When you start your car and the engine is cold the thermostat is closed. this allows the engine to heat up. this is because the coolant is not circulating into the radiator and cooling down and then going back to the engine. once the engine has reached a predetermined temp, the coolant in the block is also this temp, the thermostat opens up allowing the coolant to freely circulate thus keeping your engine at a steady temp. One sure fire way to know your thermostat is no good is if your engine never warms up and always stays cold. pretty much all thermostats now are considered fail-safe. That is when they fail, they fail in the open position so your engine doesn't overheat doing major damage in the process.
Johnny b good is wrong... Most common temp. of a thermostat is 180 degrees the temperature of the coolant can be much higher... The main purpose of the thermostat is to get the coolant up to operating temperature as fast as possible... the engine heats the coolant and when it reaches the preset temp the thermostat opens to allow the coolant to circulate through the cooling system.. The radiator fan is designed to turn on at about 220 degrees.. This keeps the system from overheating So to answer your question. The thermostat controls the flow of the coolant and the radiator fan regulates the temperature......Good Luck