Replacing thermostat

[clean96GST]

My car has been overheating and shooting out coolant, the only thing I could think of is the thermostat but I kind of want to flush my radiator also. How do I flush it? And is replacing the thermostat hard?

 

[throwedgsx]

Where is the coolant shooting from? Replacing the thermostat is easy. It's located in the water inlet of the left side of the block. It's in the inlet that comes from the lower radiator hose(incase you didn't know) unbolt the two bolts and pull the t-stat out. replace with new one, i recommend getting a new thermostat o-ring and some Permatex cooling system gasket maker to seal up the housing.
To flush, drain your coolant and add some distilled water. Let the car run for 10 mins (or until normal operating temp is reached) with the heat on high. Stop the motor and let it cool then drain your radiator. Get as much water out as you can and add new coolant. Grab a beer, and your done

 

[wangboy925]

Overheating means not enough coolant, bad/wrong thermostat, obstruction in front of radiator(FMIC), or fans not kicking in. The way your saying it, your car has not enough coolant. As throwedgsx said it's easy to replace the thermostat. Takes about 3min to do.

 

[throwedgsx]

I agree. If your shooting coolant out from somewhere you could be running dangerously low on coolant. I would check your levels before doing anything and then find where it's leaking and fix it.

 

[clean96GST]

Where is the coolant shooting from? Replacing the thermostat is easy. It's located in the water inlet of the left side of the block. It's in the inlet that comes from the lower radiator hose(incase you didn't know) unbolt the two bolts and pull the t-stat out. replace with new one, i recommend getting a new thermostat o-ring and some Permatex cooling system gasket maker to seal up the housing.
To flush, drain your coolant and add some distilled water. Let the car run for 10 mins (or until normal operating temp is reached) with the heat on high. Stop the motor and let it cool then drain your radiator. Get as much water out as you can and add new coolant. Grab a beer, and your done

It shoots from the little coolant resivoir and to my knowledge it is supposed to do that when it over heats becuase all the hot coolant goes into it right? And I can't legally grab a beer I'm only 16

Overheating means not enough coolant, bad/wrong thermostat, obstruction in front of radiator(FMIC), or fans not kicking in. The way your saying it, your car has not enough coolant. As throwedgsx said it's easy to replace the thermostat. Takes about 3min to do.

I am always refilling my coolant because I know it shoots it so low coolant is not the reason, my fans are always on because my temp gauge doesn't work ( still investigating ), and there is no obstruction in front of my radiator. so hopefully its my thermostat.

 

[No_Skillz]

You shouldn't be filling your overflow bottle up that much. Either you have a worn out radiator cap or you are overheating w/ a bad mix of coolant and water (too little coolant).

A new radiator cap can be had for a few bucks at any generic auto store. Make sure it's ~13lbs and fits your car.

Then flush your system. It's basically rinsing out the inside. Drain, fill with distilled water, warm up with fans and heat on max, drain again. How many flushes depends on how thorough you wish to be. I do 4-5 until my fluid comes out completely clear. Then fill it with a nice 70/30 mix of distilled water/coolant with a bottle of a product called Water Wetter.

See where you are at this point, then decide if a t-stat replacement is waranted.

 

[clean96GST]

The new thermostat is in , I don't fill the overflow bottle up unless it is low when the engin is warm. And I am using 50/50 should I be using 70/30?

 

[DSM1G90]

I took my radiator out completely and shot it out with the garden hose. Then I opened up the heater controls then flushed out the block with shoving the hose in the return radiator hose with the T-stat out .. Fun to see all the rust and junk come out of both..

Then, I flushed out the overfill bottle as well.

Put in a new T-stat and new cap with the correct 50/50 mix from NAPA, got my overheating probs corrected.

 

[Dsmj89]

The new thermostat is in , I don't fill the overflow bottle up unless it is low when the engin is warm. And I am using 50/50 should I be using 70/30?

Sorry to bring up an old thread, just wondering if your problem got fixed wih the 50/50 mix ?

 

[dsmkidd20]

I took my radiator out completely and shot it out with the garden hose. Then I opened up the heater controls then flushed out the block with shoving the hose in the return radiator hose with the T-stat out .. Fun to see all the rust and junk come out of both..

Then, I flushed out the overfill bottle as well.

Put in a new T-stat and new cap with the correct 50/50 mix from NAPA, got my overheating probs corrected.

im gonna try that tomorrow and a new t-stat(from mitsubishi) and see if my problem goes away.

 

[KKneipper]

Did you let your car sit for at least 2 hours after you put the new thermostat in? If you use gasket maker paste and don't let it harden, as soon as the car gets warm its going to leak coolant from there. Just a thought, cause I know that nobody here has mentioned it, and being 16, I can't imagine you've had a ton of experience yet, young jedi. Luckily you have found the most informative site on the web for learning how to fix your own ride.