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Old 02-20-2017, 01:40 PM
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Electronic M Electronic M is online now
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Pewaukee/Delafield Wi
Posts: 14,760
Twas in the 60's this weekend (positively tropical for Milwaukee in January) so I decided to replace the thermostat. Other VK members in another thread astutely pointed out that the heater and temp gauge symptoms I was talking about pointed to the thermostat being defective. In addition to the the heater and the temp gauge staying well below designed temp on days below 30F, on the warm Friday commute (55F) temp gauge reached operating temp, the heater was able to deliver comparatively (to cold days) nuclear warmth, and the check engine light turned it's self off....Good confirmation.

In this truck the thermostat is a permanent part of it's housing which is bolted to the side of the block in a well buried location.
Text book procedure is to pull the belt and alternator (see video below), but I wanted to avoid that and mess with as few systems at once as feasible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no9jVh4JyyM
Then I found another video which shows how to sneak in to get it through the wheel well...Probably requires twice the coordination/dexterity but a VERY good method.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le18lv3W67A
Saturday afternoon I got it up on a jack stand pulled the driver's side front wheel, and checked access. I first got both bolts loose (to make sure this method could work) then pulled the bottom radiator hose (no drain plug avail) to drain the fluid. I was able to use the hose to get the old thermostat out. I then compared my part from O'riley's and noticed it was not made to restrict flow when closed any better then the old stuck open one....I re-consulted the first video parts compare and concluded the replacement was bad. I drove to another O'riley and compared the first replacement to the second...Same problem. I then went to the Advanced Auto a block away and asked to look at one of theirs...The part from Advanced was actually CLOSED PROPERLY in the cool closed position. I bought it on the spot, then returned O'riley's part and informed the clerk of the issue.
Back home I put the new one on the hose in as close to the same rotational position on the hose as I could and fished it back to the mount point on the block with the hose (the reverse of how I extracted the original), and went on a hunt for the two mount bolts that got dropped. Found one and gave up on the other. I got an two bolts that were a near exact matches and 3 others that would definitely work at the hardware store. I lost one trying to get it threaded on. I got the bottom bolt on and had a hard time with the top. Looking in through a small crevice above the alt. I could see misalignment of the holes from the top being rotated. I could grab the hose and line it up but not get it to stay. My solution was to put a wrench on the bottom bolt, station dad down there to tighten it down on my signal. I lined it up, he tightened the bottom bolt (wanted him to align it, and me to tighten but he could not see what I was looking at) and it stayed in place. That may be the only car repair dad does all year. Persuaded the top bolt in, hooked back up the bottom hose of the radiator, filled and it warmed up to operating temp quickly at idle then stabilized there. Got the wheel back on and it was still doing fine on the test drive....Only thing that bugs me is that the check engine light came back on....If it don't go out I may try having it reset.
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