thermostat replacement costs

[elmsjetta]

hey guys i fear my thermostat will need replaced, how much is a normal price for such a replacement, i know i cannot do it myself....

 

[section525]

Why do you know you cannot do it yourself? If you can, t-stats are only a few bucks.

 

[Fusion213]

I don't know how much it would cost... but i guess it would probably take one hour at the most for a shop so maybe 55-70 dollars depending on their hourly fee and however much the thermostat is going to cost.

 

[Chris4x4Gill2]

No reason not to do it yourself. At least give it a look....Its not much more than a couple bolts....and like Section says thermostats are only a couple bucks at any parts store

 

[Nate1]

Right from discount auto parts for a 99' 4l vin E x...
Engine temp sensor


STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS TS-376 [TEMPERATURE SENDING UNITS]; 2 SPIDE TERM. CONNECTOR $8.23

At least see if you can DIY, a shop will charge an arm an a leg!

 

[elmsjetta]

i'm not embarrassed to say i'm not very mechanical, what is involved in replacing it yourself?

 

[dogfriend]

Here is the instructions given in Chilton's manual:

http://www2.autozone.com/servlet/Ui..._us/0900823d/80/0e/2e/cb/0900823d800e2ecb.jsp

Scroll down to the instructions for 2.9L & 4.0L. Step 10 says to use sealent on the mating surfaces when you put it back together. You shouldn't need to do this, if you replace the seal that looks like a big o-ring it shouldn't leak. I have done this on both 2.9L and 4.0L and had no problems without using any kind of sealent.

Don't forget to refill with coolent! I use 50/50 coolent and water, so you need 1 gal coolent mixed with almost 1 gal of water.

 

[Mikes95XLT]

Not much. I did mine a few months ago with a friend, all you have to do is take off the air intake tube, and then get three bolts loose, and pull away the upper radiator hose.... (you have to drain some coolant though, but that's easy) and then the thermo is right there, and you pull out the old one, and put in the new one.

 

[jasonb]

i just bought one today! with the gasket i paid right at $14.00. pep boys wanted $22 but all the other places were charging around the $14 mark. gotta replace mine tomorrow.. i hope that's my only problem!

 

[Mikes95XLT]

Wow really? I paid $6 and it came with the new o-ring and everything.....

 

[jasonb]

yeah i know. i kept wondering what was up with the $14 when everyone here was saying like $5 and $6 and stuff. it was a consitant price here though so i said screw it.
where did you get yours? i can always take mine back! its not been opened yet.

 

[DeagleDave]

damn i paid 15 but got it from ford....

 

[Mikes95XLT]

Got mine from Napa

 

[jasonb]

dangit! NAPA was closed today. that's usually my first choice to go to. guess i'll swing by tomorrow and pick one up there and take this back across the road for a return.

 

[brokenman]

easy does it

When I did mine on my 4.0, it costed about 5-6 bucks for the high-temperature thermo and the o-ring.... no joke, the job was easy.... although one bolt was a little difficult to get to but that means it took one extra mintue to get off...lol

 

[Mikes95XLT]

Yea that one bolt was a major PITA! I must've dropped it like three times......lol

 

[Nick C.]

how hard is that third bolt to get off and will I be able to get it off with just a basic socket set? I'm doing it this afternoon. I paid about $6 from Advance just for reference.

any other tips are welcom.

thanks

 

[jasonb]

on the sohc..
i had to remove the air intake to get to the t-stat. i guess you may be able to get around that with a LOT of patience, but i had to do it all during lunch break.
the third bolt in the back is not really hard to get to. i used the 1/4" size socket drive with a 10mm socket to put about 1 turn on the bolt then removed it by hand. its tight fit though.
i used sealant on the o-ring just for kicks like the directions say but many here say you don't need to. i had some handy so i went ahead and did it.

i could not get my upper radiator tube off though. it is stuck on pretty darn well but i managed to do it all without removing. my aftermarket t-stat was shorter than the ford one (it didn't stick up so far) and was a lot easier to mess with.

and don't forget to refill coolant!

i don't know how similar this is to the OHV

 

[Nick C.]

It was easy enough although I didn't tighten down enough the first time and now all the neighbors hate me because they're kids and kittens were licking up the antifreeze.

Good thing it rained a ton today or I may have had some HOA problems on my hands.

 

[jasonb]

Originally posted by Nick C.
and now all the neighbors hate me because they're kids and kittens were licking up the antifreeze.

haha.. yeah i usually run the hose for a little while to wash all that off the driveway and away... maybe some of the strays will find it tasty.