kanpol

hello all,
I need to replace my thermostat and wanted to know if I should get the oem sold by the dealership or can I use one made by stant. I have read about the autozone ones, so I know to stay away from those. The stant is around $20 cheaper then the dealers. I'm fixing it this saturday so buying online is not an option. Money is very tight at the moment so $20 is $20,. Just dont want to try to save $20 and in 3 month have to replace it again but it broke.

thanks,
Stuart

Conrad Hoffman

I've not a clue, but my CEL light just came on (2004) and it's the thermostat. The dealer quoted me almost $90 for the stupid thing. I refuse to spend that much so I just asked Advance Auto to get me one of the $35 Stants from warehouse 13 or wherever it is they come from. The gasket adds another $9 or so.

The car normally warms up within a block or so, and now it's taking 3-5 miles so the 'stat is definitely stuck open.

If I successfully install it (or not) I'll report back.

Conrad Hoffman

OK, I did the thermostat today. Not nearly as hard as I thought it might be. The only "requirement" is a 6" extension for the socket set. IMO, it would be very difficult if you only had shorter or longer.

The Stant is a bit different than the OEM, but it seems to work fine. I assume the end piece is still large enough to block the hole properly, but it's too hard to see or measure in there. Note that the gasket is part of the assembly and you don't have to buy a separate one.

The bottom bolt is blind, but not that hard to feel. The only problem I had was getting the belt back on the tensioner; possibly I wasn't pushing it back far enough, so I switched to a longer handle on socket and it went on with no problem.

edit- It took about 3 days for the CEL to reset it self, but it did do it. If I had removed the bat cable it probably would have been faster.
edit2- Hey, after a couple weeks my mileage is up at least 2 mpg! Maybe the thermo was going bad for longer than I thought.

Here's a couple photos showing the block with the tensioner and thermostat removed, plus a comparison between the Stant and the OEM.

smartone

Conrad, how long did it take you to change the thermostat?

Conrad Hoffman

Understand that I have a lot of arthritis and don't move well or fast, so my times don't mean much. Still, it took me 2-3 hours to do a careful job of it out in the driveway. Somebody in better shape working in their garage might only take 1-2 hours. BTW, the car is still running well (knock on wood).