Thermostat Replacement...

[kmank]

Hello Folks. A Happy and Healthy New Year to you all. Its been a heck of a couple of months working on replacing that rack n pinion, 2 (or was it 3 ???) power steering pumps and finally changing the radiator and flushing out all that antifreeze from my transmission. Yeow. Temperatures have now reached -7 and these bones are screaming for me to stop this outside work. Now that I'm back to finally driving it I've finally said enough to getting cool air constantly coming out of my heater vents and will make an attempt at replacing my thermostat. Can anybody tell me the pain and difficulty on a scale of 1 being not too bad and 10 being bloody, frost bitten and causing much crying it would be to do this job. I've read one of your helpful posts on just this kind of job by Dr Bob and his crew and he made it sound like it's a doable job. My last question is if the 1996 and the 1995 4.0L - V6 have the same thermostat setup? Thanks again. I appreciate. gk

 

[kindred4x]

if you have a ohv 4.0 the 95 and 96 will be the same. If i remember correctly all i do is remove the serpentine belt, drain the coolant down some, remove the three bolts holding the housing to the lower intake manifold, remove thermostat, clean mating surfaces of rtv. replace thermostat and o-ring and apply new bead of rtv to housing. you might also want to check your heater control valve which is controlled by vacuum.

 

[Dono]

If its the 4.0 ohv its easy. I think I did mine many years ago outside and didnt even bother draining coolant. I just let the coolant pour out. I didn't really loose much.
I didn't remove the belt or anything.

3 bolts (ones a bit more difficult to get at), out comes the thermostat. Working on a vehicle outside in the extreme cold is no fun at all.

 

[lobo411]

You guys with your non-California winter maintenance woes kill me...I do all my maintenance outside of emergency repairs in Dec/Jan, and even then I'm cursing the sun all day for roasting me at 80 degrees!

 

[Dono]

You guys with your non-California winter maintenance woes kill me...I do all my maintenance outside of emergency repairs in Dec/Jan, and even then I'm cursing the sun all day for roasting me at 80 degrees!

Thanks for rubbing salt in the wound.

To the OP, have you thought about making sure you have all the tools and driving to an indoor car parkade, or a wand style car wash? The wand washes are not exactly busy when its this cold, so the people working there usually don't mind as long as your quick and don't leave a mess.

Then you could pull in, plug in a hose to your radiator drain, drain some coolant in to a container (about 1/4 gallon is way more than enough, and it will relieve any pressure on the system). This way, you would do a way better job of sealing the water neck. It might just save you the time of re-sealing when its warmer out.

Oh, and make sure the new thrermostat has a rubber O ring around it. That gasket will save you pain if you don't get the sealant on very well.

 

[e200e]

I did mine on my 96 4.0 ohv and its not bad at all . Just drain the system and I think it's 10mm and 3 bolts and take old out and put the new with the new seal. The hardest part is getting the bottom bolt the other two are easy. I didn't even use rtv I think some of them don't even need it.

 

[sloop]

easy repair - i just did mine a couple of months ago - don't forget the hole goes UP - look at the thermostat and that will make sense

i think it is there to burp the air out of the coolant system after you have drained it

i did unhook my belt - already have the ratchet in your hand and its simple to do

 

[lobo411]

Thanks for rubbing salt in the wound.

Road salt? Never heard of it!

 

[kmank]

Thermostat Replacement......

To kindred4X, dono, lobo411, e200e and sloop: Man, thanx much for all your comments and positive attitudes on the thermostat replace job. In fact I just may get out there in my "Screw it All" t-shirt and a few brewskis in the cooler and knock this one outta the park.......Yeah, right. But really, I appreciate you all for bein' home when I called. And to lobo411: You're definitley a fun kind of guy and I do know what it's like to be doin' repairs roasting under the sun in 80+ degrees in those months and it surely can be a painful experience......Yeah, right