Thermostat Replacement Write-Up

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thefro526
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So I finally decided to bite the bullet and replace my thermostat. Some symptoms of a bad thermostat are: Car taking too long to heat up, Car randomly getting to hot and then cooling off rapidly, Car over heating. So if you have one of these problems your thermostat might be bad so, it's time to replace it.

WARNING, I claim no responsibility for any damage caused by this write-up, this is meant to be a guide only!

Tools Required10mm wrench10mm socket and ratchet with extensionsPan to catch radiator fluidsomething to pry withand a friend to help out.

MaterialsNew Thermostat ~10-15 dollarsGasket ~1 dollarRadiator Coolant ~10 dollars

Step one:Locate your thermostat. On a ka24de it's inside of the lower coolant neck. to find this trace your lower radiator hose up to the block and find something that looks like this.



Step two:Get your pan and place it under your car to catch any fluid that comes out.



Step three:I found it necessary to remove the fan to get access to the bolts better. You may not need to do this but anyways undo the 4 ten mm nuts holding it and move it out of the way.



Step four:Undo the 3 ten mm bolts holding the coolant neck to the block. With a gentle tug it should move out of the way and look like this.



Step five:Get your prying tool and take out the old thermostat, mine looked like this.



Step six:Fluid will begin to come out pretty quickly so, carefully remove all of the old sealer. Mine was blue and I peeled it off with my finger.



Step seven:Slide the new thermostat into place and it'll look like this.



Step eight:Slide the gasket in and then care fully line up the holes. I gently threaded each bolt in like a half turn.



Step nine:Tighten up each bolt as equally as possible, be careful to not over tighten.



Step ten: Remove all the stuff from under the car that you had catching the fluid and reattach the fan the same way you took it off.



Step eleven:Locate and loosen the bleeder bolt. Start the car and run at idle with the heat on a full blast until coolant come out of this hole. Be careful to add coolant the whole time though.



Step twelve:Top everything and clean up!! your done!! On the first test drive I would make sure to go slow to ensure that the thermostat opens correctly.



Thanks For Reading,Dustin AKA Thefro526



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thefro526
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Mods, will I get a custom title for this?

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S13xCrazy
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i knew there would be a day when the thermostat writeup would come.



its so easy.

nissans13240sx
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where did you get the gasket for the thermostat? I tried getting one at my work(dealership) and they told me there is no gasket and that you use silicone.

good write up btw, next time to make it easier remove the fan shroud and fan and toss them in the trash

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S13xCrazy
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you can get the gasket at autozone or advance auto parts. any place like that should have them

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thefro526
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I got my gasket at advanced auto it was like a dollar.

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Asmar
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Nice write-up.

Moto Man
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Haha, you make it sound so easy to get all the air out of the system...

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240sxvaj
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Asmar wrote:Nice write-up.
+1

got chub
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nice write up. i just did that about a month ago. i did notice in you pics that you valve at the top of the thermostat wasn't at the top. my directions said to have it at the 12 o'clock position but you might have moved it after you took the pic.

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StandardProspect
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good write up.the gasket part number is 13049-40f00 btw

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White Comet
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i did mine a little bit ago and just used silicone. worked well

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thefro526
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Thanks for the compliments guys, as I said this was to be a guide only. I wanted to show people with just a little bit of common sense and basic tools and a few hours one afternoon you can change your thermostat yourself. I think at a shop it's gotta be like 100 of more dollars to change and mine cost me about 10 dollars in parts, 10 dollars in coolant, and one antifreeze induced headache.

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Ricksil80
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very informative

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dalzell240
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i already knew how, did it 3 times with the fan on(pain in the but)

vancouverbc
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these write ups are important for people who are not mechanically inclined.

-make sure you park car on incline and run engine with valve and rad cap off. It is very hard to get the air out especially after your replace stat. make sure you get a stat that has the jiggle valve and make sure it is at top. -liquid gasket maker works fine.

-you dont have to take fan off. just use a small ratchet wrench:

[/QUOTE]


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thefro526
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Does anyone know if I can get a custom title for this? I want one if I can get one but, I don't know who to ask. If a mod sees this I want it to be "Afro Drifter" or "That Dude With The Fro"

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White Comet
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thefro526 wrote:and one antifreeze induced headache.
were you drinking it?

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thefro526
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White Comet wrote:were you drinking it?
No my dumba** got under the car as it was dripping off the block and got some right by my nose and it made me wanna throw up.

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White Comet
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thats sucks. ive had a rad cap blow off in my face while worknig at a garage

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ThuG LyFe
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thanks for the write up. i'm considering doing it this weekend but i have almost no experience working on cars.

what confuses me is the bleeding part. is it really hard? how do i know when it's done and ready?

also about the gasket, do i just buy one and throw it in and then bolt it up?

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safin
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cool write up

about getting the air out...... i dont hava heater and i rerouted the 2 heater hoses and couple them together behind the block.......

it would be definitely easier to get the air out of the system right? (since it does not have to go thru the core or anything)

should i just block off the heater plugs?


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PapaSmurf2k3
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thefro526 wrote:Does anyone know if I can get a custom title for this? I want one if I can get one but, I don't know who to ask. If a mod sees this I want it to be "Afro Drifter" or "That Dude With The Fro"
Post a link to this thread in the "ARTICLES=CUSTOM TITLES" thread.

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xekushnr
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I think I'm going to do a write up on removing wheels. That should be good for a title, right?

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ppctx
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xekushnr wrote:I think I'm going to do a write up on removing wheels. That should be good for a title, right?
Why would you do that? You already post dumb enough things as it is...
xekushnr wrote:just wanted to see if i could make a thread just a period.

now i know.

...cool.
Or worthless threads like this > zerothread?id=204880

Dont be a Douche to someone being helpfull.

Good writeup Afro and nice photo documentation!

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sebazztard
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dunno how i missed this. thanks for the write-up, i was unaware of the bleeder, havent had to do this job b4 untill now.

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ItsTooSlow
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good write up! But...there was just one thing I saw that bothered me. After the coolant is done draining out of the block, you should clean the surface where the thermostat housing meets the block (where the old gasket was). You will want to remove all of the remains of the old gasket by using a scraper or something similiar. After the remaining pieces of the old gasket is removed, take a pick and digg out any debris that may have fallen into the hole going into the block while you were removing the old thermostat out of position. Then spray some brake-clean on a rag and clean the surface that the new gasket will be placed over. The surface should be looking nice and shiny. After the brake-clean evaporates, you are now safe to put your new gasket and thermostat on.

Not all of this is necessary of course, but if the gasket can not seal correctly, then it may leak and you have to go through the whole process again just to replace a gasket because you didn't do it right the first time. I hope this helps.

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elithe240guy
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Moto Man wrote:Haha, you make it sound so easy to get all the air out of the system...
UUUHHHHH air???? are you serious its not a hydrolic system. Also if you are changing the thermostat why not flush the whole system?.... by removing the engine block coolant drain plug located under the exhaust mannifold slightly to the right of the upper right side motor mount bracket. This will drain any coolant left in your engine just run clean water through the whole system and there you have it no more old coolant. replace the plug and fill the system back up.

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ZOMG.SR20
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you my friend have no life for bumping this old asss thread for that nonsense

marryson
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Hi, thanks for the write up, just one quick question, is it ok if my jiggle valve is not on top? cuz after i install my thermostat, my car started to flush hot coolant into the resivour container when i turn the car off after driving. tyvm


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