[Mk2] [NA] Help to replace a thermostat - Cornwall

[jennyt125]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1998 rev 5 n/a, think my thermostat is sticking as I have the temperture gague through the roof with no hot air in the cabin then everything settling when it decides to open but coolant levels all fine - read a few posts on here which seem to match the symptoms.
Now got to the stage where I really need to sort as doing it all the time.
Is there anyone in the Cornwall/Devon area who has done this and is willing to give me a hand? or anyone who knows a trusted garage in the Cornwall/Devon area. The local Toyota dealer wants £201!! this includes the coolant change but as this was done 15 months ago I believe is perhaps not required. I have been told by TCB parts that any garage can do it but being female and having a car with a specialist cooling system I want to know it has been done right.

Willing to travel and of course I don't expect it to be done for free
I would take it to Rogue but Warwickshire is a 500 mile round trip!

Many thanks, Jenny

[Slarty]

If you have access to some basic tools, and have confidence in your abilities, try doing it yourself? It's honestly not a difficult job, and if you read through all that's said on the following thread, you should be fine

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... thermostat

Edit: Don't worry that that thread ^^ is for a turbo, I'm 99.9% sure the thermostat is the same for N/A's.

[cvega666]

Buy the thermostat online - not expensive.
A local garage should have no problem with the job as it's really really simple. It's the bleeding of the system later that could confuse them though

[jennyt125]

Hi,
Thanks for the link and pic.
Does anyone happen to have a picture of where the thermostat is located in a later n/a engine? Having trouble matching that picture up with anything in my car, probably because it is so clean and shiny
Think we'll give it a go, just need to make sure we're taking the correct bits to pieces!
Jenny

[raptor95GTS]

the thermostat should be down by the dipstick (I'm sure the n/a blocks are the same as the turbo) , you'll see the big water pipe going into the housing. Use a good quality 6 sided socket as the nuts are a bu88er to move. 10mm I think

[RST]

I think on the gen 3 block it's in the same place as my gen 4. I'm going from memory from 2 years back now. Look to the right of the exhaust heat shield near the top of the dipstick tube. There should be a domed casting with a large diameter water pipe coming off it (pointing downwards I think?). You should be able to feel 2 hex head bolts around it -come off easy enough with a small 1/4in drive ratchet. Undo those and the casting should pop-off, maybe with a sharp tap. Swap the thermostat in and go through the bleed procedure. Just make sure the thermostat case mating faces are totally clean -I can't remember whether there was a gasket or not.

If you've only lost a few litres of coolant doing it I found bleeding quite easy (maybe I got lucky). Open the bonnet and remove the spare wheel and plastic trim. You should see a small bleed valve on the bulkhead under the windscreen. You need some rubber tubing (fuel hose should work) and lift the open end so it's above the level of the head. Open the filler cap on the coolant line just under the passenger side inspection panel in the engine bay and start topping up with the valve in the front open. Crank the engine and run it for 5s or so. Stop the engine, top up again, run the engine for another 5s and keep on doing that until there isn't any more fluid going in. Squeeze all the hozes every now and again to get any bubbles out. Don't do what I did and not notice the tube in the front had fallen down -I must have put 4L of coolant in the front boot before I realised. I thought it was taking allot to re-fill#-o

...that's how I did it, I think there's an article about it on here and on the mr2oc.co.uk site.

Should be an absolute doddle for any garage -but I always find they're too scared to do any work because the engine isn't where it's meant to be.

Your price from Toyota sounds not far off, about an hours labour at £80+, plus thermostat, plus coolant (they'd probably only use long life and insist it all needed changing) plus VAT. I wouldn't trust them to do it right compared to any half decent garage.

Sorry I don't have any pics and the EPC doesn't show it that clear but the PT number for a gen 3 stat is 90916-03100.

Hope that helps.

[bobhatton]

Come over at the weekend and we can help you fit this or do it for you.
PM me for our address.

Bob

[toxo]

lol. I was about to suggest "Send a PM to bobhatton"

[jennyt125]

Just to say a big thank you to Bob Hatton for helping me with this (well I actually just stood and watched! ). Now have a happy MR2 and a warm heater which is appreciated this time of year.
Jenny