PandaSC300

Does anyone know of any instructions on how to replace the thermostats in our SC3s? I would appreciate it a lot. Thanks.

JM

indelible

From the manual:
Removal:
1. Drain engine coolant
2. Remove thermostat
a) remove the 2 nuts holding the water inlet to the water pump, and disconnect the water inlet from the water pump.
b) remove the thermostat
c) remove the gasket from the thermostat

Installation:
1. Place thermostat in the water inlet
a) install a new gasket to the thermostat
b) align the jiggle valve of the thermostat w/the protrusion and insert the thermostat in the water inlet.
HINT: the jiggle valve may be set within 10 degrees of either side of the prescribed position.
2.Install water inlet
Install the water inlet with the 2 nuts
3. Fill with engine coolant
4. Start engine and check for leaks

If you need directions for inspecting the thermostat, let me know and I'll type that up.

PandaSC300

Thanks a lot. This is very helpful. The water inlet is the part that just goes into the overflow tank right, so this should be relatively easy?

While I'm replacing the current thermostat, do you recommend switching to the TRD one? Thanks.

JM

indelible

I'm not near my car right now, so I can't say, but from the picture in the manual, the water inlet is at the end of the hose and plugs straight into the water pump. As for the TRD thermostat, I don't know if it's any better than the stock one.

Inabj2

Wow quite a bit of steps from the manual..



I just unhooked the hose.. Let water drain a bit.. Removed the thermostat that was jammed with 10+ years of use with vice grips, put Toms lower temp thermostat in there... screwed the hose back in there, topped off the radiator tank with more water.

Edit: Open your hood and look down if your facing your car head on look toward where the fan is.. then look to your left of the clutch fan and look for a big radiator hose. Follow that said radiator hose into the engine block you will see that it ends in this flange with 2 14 mm bolts on it. Unbolt that to expose thermostat.. Make sure the car has not been run for a few hours before doing this.

got_trd

i have abrand new trd thermostat if you want it

lsflame

how much for that thermostat Chino?

mikeloc24

That was over a year ago big dawg, lol.

I'm about to do this repair myself this upcoming weekend...anyone else do a thermostat change recently and care to post up any tips? I bought an OEM Toyota thermostat and gasket and a jug of the $15 red Toyota coolant...judging by what's stated in here it doesn't seem like it's too involved of a job, but I thought I should revive this just in case others might want to change out their thermostat. I got a new thermostat and gasket from Carson Toyota for about $19 if anyone cares, so the parts are super cheap. Anyone care to add to this? Speak!

brand0119

Could someone scan a the page from the manual so i can have pictures of what im doing? I really need to get a manual, if only i wasnt broke
Thanks,
Brandon

edit: never mind i got it.

Luv Da Lex

you the man mike, thanks for bringing this back up. imma do that this weekend. new samco hoses just came it, gonna go get a sard or toms thermostat. hopefully get a new fan shroud too. hopefully this will help my car. its been running a tad hot lately.

mikeloc24

It can only help, as a lot of the parts of our cooling system are relatively cheap. I got a brand new OEM top radiator hose for $9.75 from Carson, jug of coolant for $15, thermostat and gasket for $15. I still haven't gotten around to doing the job as I know it's gonna make a mess of coolant in my driveway and I want to get a couple of more things before I start, probably this weekend since it's a long one.

We can't mess around with our cooling systems, heat is the #1 enemy of our GE engines. Too much heat build-up and it's warp-city