does a 2001 chevy suburban thermostat fail open?

[Erik]

I know some thermostats are dedigned to fail open, is a 2001 chevy suburban thermostat designes that why? I'm trying to figure out why it is heating up and almost overheating all of a sudden.

 

[don r]

There is no reason to build a car part to fail unless you want to lose business and destroy your company. Oh, that almost happened. I don't think GM designed the thermostat to fail, but you should change it if it's bad. Also make sure the electric fan turns on when it's supposed to. There's more troubleshooting to do.