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Re: Thermostat change on a 96 900s 2.3L Posted by Ari [Email] (#2847) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Ari) on Thu, 15 Apr 2004 05:48:53 In Reply to: Thermostat change on a 96 900s 2.3L, Dave, Wed, 14 Apr 2004 21:43:11 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
You will end up draining coolant no matter what. The good news is that it isn't much coolant.
The thermostat is at the 'top' of the cooling system, so you don't need to drain the system all the way down - just to below the thermostat housing, or about a half-quart after the overflow reservoir is empty. Now, if you just remove the thermostat housing, the coolant will flow out until it gets to that level (hence the 'no matter what' comment), but I don't recommend it - it'll stink for a while, and coolant is very poisonous to small animals - dogs and cats especially.
You can open the radiator drain plug, and drain coolant out until the overflow reservoir is empty, and then a half-quart or so more. I find this a pain, because the drains are usually stuck. A few years ago I bought a 'universal replacement' windshield washer pump at an autoparts store for about $10. I got some small alligator clips from Radio Shack and crimped them onto the wires. I stick the input hose of the pump into the coolant tank, the output into a clean container, and clip the leads to the battery (polarity counts!) and pump the coolant tank dry. I then remove the coolant tank, and slip the pump hose down into the fat hose feeding the coolant tank, and pump it down until the level is an inch or three under the level of the thermostat. That's it. It's important to keep the input hose to the pump short, as those pumps can't pull a lot of head (air gap between pump and coolant).
Replacing the thermostat is easy, just take your time. Make sure you put the new one in with the little hole up, so the system will purge air. Make sure the mating surfaces are clean.
The only tough part of the thermostat is getting the coolant level down, and the pump trick is at least a little less messy.
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