replacing thermostat

[turbotoad]

I think my thermostat is stuck open on my 96 Talon N/T (420A). The car takes forever to warm up. So I bought a new thermostat and am planning on replacing it tonight or tomorrow night.

Anyway, acording to the Chilton book there is a gasket between the engine and the thermostat housing. But there was no listing for that gasket at the place where I bought the thermostat. So, they sold me some RTV silicone gasket sealer to use.

Do I re-use the old gasket , use the RTV silicone, or should I buy a new gasket from the dealer (Satan)?

 

[turbotoad]

Ok, I check VFAQ and it looks like I use the RTV sealer.

 

[blackGSX2g]

RTV is fine, just make sure there is an even amount on it.

 

[onepimpclipse]

Any auto store or satan would have the $3 gasket. Then use both.

 

[kalla]

You should only have to remove the top half of the thermostat housing to replace the thermostat; the bottom half of the housing does not need to come off the motor.

 

[turbotoad]

You should only have to remove the top half of the thermostat housing to replace the thermostat; the bottom half of the housing does not need to come off the motor.

ummmmm, I'm pretty sure the whole housing has to come off. I have a 96 420A (2.0 non-turbo).

 

[onepimpclipse]

ummmmm, I'm pretty sure the whole housing has to come off. I have a 96 420A (2.0 non-turbo).

He's correct. You only need to remove 2 bolts I think then the front of the housing comes off and the thermostat is right there. Very easy to do, just do not overtighten the bolts because the housing will crack and you'll have to wait for Satan to order you one. I'm not speaking from experience by the way.

Don't forget to drain the coolant. Sorry if that was obvious, but with some of our members you never know.


Do yourself a favor and pick up one of these. Very useful. http://www.machv.com/hayrepman90.html

*edit* I just noticed you have a Chilton's, that didn't give detailed pics about the install? Weird.

 

[turbotoad]

Fixed it!!!............I hope.

Thermostat was definately wasted! When I pulled it out of the housing it literally came out in pieces

Got the thermostat for $4.00, the gasket for $.89 , and I already had some ready mixed 50/50 coolant. So the fix onlt cost a whole $4.89

The only problem is that I now have a check engine light on
I'll have to look into that tomorrow.

 

[blackGSX2g]

Wow, thats a messed up thermostat. I just pulled one from a used thermostat housing from the junkyard I picked up for my swap, and it was siezed, rusted, and crumbling. Shoulda taken a picture, it was nasty.

Autozone will usually pull your ECU code for free, if not I think with 2g N/Ts you can do the ignition key thing where the CEL light blinks the code. You count it and look up the corresponding number of blinks to the number in the repair manual. My manual is in my shop right now so I can't check it, but I'm sure someone around here has one that they could look up the procedure in. I'm not sure how far Clarkson is from Kalamazoo, but if either of the other two options don't work, I can plug in my datalogger and find out.

 

[freak4jesus_bt]

I just replaced my thermostat yesterday and it had done the exact same thing. I couldn't believe it. My car would warm up while it idled, but once you started driving it cooled down to the C on my temp gauge in my Laser. Glad you got your problem fixed.