where's my thermostat?

[hek1620]

i have a sohc and it overheats like a *****. i wanted to check the thermo. can i take it out easily? where is it? how can i test it? should i leave it out?

[Dattebayo]

Thermostat is not the only possible cause of your overheating. It is in the elbow on the motor at the end of the bottom radiator hose.

First you should check your coolant temp sensor, then have your coolant analyzed for oil (head gasket leak), make sure you arent burning any coolant (emissions) and then look at your thermostat. Make sure you put the new one in right, there is an air hole with a pin in it that is supposed to go up.

If all else fails, your radiator or main coolant passages in the block may have a clog in iMaybe your water/coolant mixture is off too. If you have too much coolant compared to water (especially in summertime) you can overheat. Also try adding in a product called "water wetter".
Modified by 2BN_S13 at 7:35 PM 8/29/2005

[Fergus]

thermo is at the top elbow of the lower hose. There are 3 bolts that hold that section together.

[Fergus]

oh yeah, and to awnser the other question, to test it, place it in boiling water. New ones are about 5-10$ so if its crudded up at all, cheap enough to just get a new one.

If you take it out, it takes a bit longer to get up to operating temp, and harder to get heat in the winter.

[hek1620]

winters in miami are nonexistant. already got the water wetter adding it today with little coolant and mostly distilled water.

[hek1620]

one of yall said upper the other says lower. which one is it?

[Fergus]

top of the lower hose. Did it myself today

[Dattebayo]

Sorry, fixed the post (typo).

Do not remove and leave out your thremostat if you live in a hot climate year round. This will actually hurt the radiator's ability to cool down your fluid because of the unchecked opening in that elbow we spoke about. You need the coolant to linger in the radiator for as long as possible to get the most heat out of the fluid.

[hek1620]

i took out the thermo today and still overheating. just took longer. but i noticed that the a/c fan on the condenser doesn't spin under its own power. hopefully this is my problem. also i put a couple of breather filters where the hose goes from the valve cover to the intake. and she doesn't want to stay on. i've seen people do this before. what the hell. i even adjusted the idle and nothing. the only way to keep her running is to completely cover them. should i just put the hose back on? what the hell is it for anyway?