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  • Thermostat

    hey i am doin the thermostat tomorrow on my 91 lx v6, i havent done one before, so it should be interesting, i was wondering if anyone had any tips, maybe even a step by step of everything, i got the haynes manual, but yea, wondering if i had to drain the coolant or just leave it and see what leakes out, let me know plz, any info greatly appreciated.

  • #2
    Draining some first is a good idea....otherwise you'll have it all over. You don't need to drain the whole thing but I drained about a gallon and that was fine. Of course I just did it to the 2.2 in my 89 MX6...not the Vulcan so Im not positive on specifics.

    One other tip, if you got your t-stat from NAPA, Autozone, etc...just take it back and get one from Ford. I got a brand new one from NAPA last year and the thing was JUNK! I woud let my car heat up for 15 minutes so it would blow somewhat warm air and then head to work but as soon as I started driving, the air would just get colder.
    A couple weeks ago I got a regular Motorcraft T-stat from Ford and put that in and WOW what a difference. The thing heats up quick and the heat blows nice and toasty. It was 18 bucks from Ford vs the 7 bucks from NAPA..but WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY!
    2005 & 2006 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ Fox Ridge Speedway (Dirt)
    2008 & 2012 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway (Asphalt)
    WISPOC's Circle Track Connoisseur
    Current racing stable: 89PGT, 92PGT, a couple parts cars

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    • #3
      I just changed mine on my 91 GT two days ago. It's a four banger though, so it's slightly different than your v6. I drained my coolant (just from the rad, about 7litres of fluid came out), because I wanted to flush my cooling system anyways. So I went ahead and flushed it with some coolant flush I bought from Canadian tire, this step is very easy to do. Anyways, once I had all the cleaner drained and had ran through water, I had it all drained again (from the radiator). So from here, the step by step in the Haynes manual for thermostat replacement held true. I took off my spark plug wires to get them out of the way, unplugged the temp sensor from the housing, and undid the 2 other electrical connectors (marking them with some tape and markers to ensure the proper ones matched up when I plugged them back in). I have a turbo, so I took the bracket near the thermostat housing off, and was ready to rock.

      The two bolts from the thermostat housing came out very easy (well the top one was a nut, and the bottom the whole bolt came out. I don't know if the nut was seized on it or if the bolt was supposed to come out, but it came out cleanly anwyays). Always a good idea to spray some lubricant in the threads in case the nuts are rusty. I did not undo the radiator hose from the thermostat housing because it was being stubborn. Eitherway, the thermostat came right out, and I scraped the old gasket material off and cleaned the area with thinner. I put the new thermostat in and used some 'gasket maker' in between the new gasket and the housing. Put everything back together, and followed to run the car with the rad cap off (after filling with 50/50 coolant), turned it off, burped the upper hose, filled it back up, and I was done (this is following the flushing procedure in chapter 1 of the Haynes manual). I know very little about cars, and this was quite an easy job. For the first time in a long time, my temp gauge finally got within the normal range, and my car actually blows hot air (I live in Saskatchewan and we get some cold winters). My old thermostat had a cracked little seal on the backside which was allowing coolant to flow to the radiator from the block long before it got hot enough. I got the new thermostat from Canadian Tire for $9, and so far so good. Best of luck.
      Last edited by Undertowww; December 18, 2007, 02:18 PM.

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      • #4
        wear a blindfold, zip tie your left index finger to your right ring finger, eat lunch, then do it. that should make it intersting, but to get it done, its on the top side so you really shouldnt worry about too much draing out unless im thinkin wrong.. i mean yea some but like a glass maybe..oh, dont silicone the new one shut,dont get it wedged open, dont do it while its hot...its like a 5 min job.. pretty easy
        ________________________________________
        Riggz
        91 Probe GT
        89 GMC Safari
        62 Pontiac Grand Prix

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        • #5
          what brand of t-stat did u get from napa?

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          • #6
            factory cooling set up's on the 2.2's are a dual stage cooling set up, and every aftermarket one (parts stores) is a generic single stage. so they will work, just not properly. so you have to get your t-stat at a mazda/ford dealer.
            PaTricK
            ~ 92 PGT, 97 KL MTX 626, 05 Mazda6, 13 Mazda CX9, 09 Kia Sportage 4x4 v6 ~

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            • #7
              Thanks for the info Pat!
              I was wondering why the Motorcraft T-stat I got was a dual stage. It is definitely a thousand times better then the crap aftermarket one. Another difference is that it actually has a rubber seal where the aftermarket one did not, it was a metal to metal seal. Like I said, the Motorcraft was worth every penny of the 18 bucks I spent! Finally I got some good heat blowing.

              britishbich05- I honestly have no idea what brand it was that I got from NAPA...it might have actually been NAPA brand I don't know. All I know is that it was 9 bucks I might as well have thrown in the garbage.
              2005 & 2006 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ Fox Ridge Speedway (Dirt)
              2008 & 2012 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway (Asphalt)
              WISPOC's Circle Track Connoisseur
              Current racing stable: 89PGT, 92PGT, a couple parts cars

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              • #8
                wtf!

                i just bought two of them from mazda, and niether of them had any rubber seal. i hadnt even thought about that till you said. bastards!
                PaTricK
                ~ 92 PGT, 97 KL MTX 626, 05 Mazda6, 13 Mazda CX9, 09 Kia Sportage 4x4 v6 ~

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                • #9
                  I got a Motorcraft one from Ford. I have an MX6 but my dad can get somewhat of a discount at this place that sells factory parts and they can get Ford parts but not Mazda. Wierd I know. So he just told him it was for a Probe instead and thats what I got. 18 bucks and worth ever last cent.
                  2005 & 2006 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ Fox Ridge Speedway (Dirt)
                  2008 & 2012 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway (Asphalt)
                  WISPOC's Circle Track Connoisseur
                  Current racing stable: 89PGT, 92PGT, a couple parts cars

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                  • #10
                    yup, mine was 18 and sum change too. OEM ford, and OEM mazda should be the exact same part though. wonder if it was old stock or something cause i have bought them in the past and got the rubber seals.

                    plus the ones ive got in the past were packaged differently, these came in little white box's with a blue MAZDA on them.
                    PaTricK
                    ~ 92 PGT, 97 KL MTX 626, 05 Mazda6, 13 Mazda CX9, 09 Kia Sportage 4x4 v6 ~

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                    • #11
                      I was thinking the same thing that they should be the same part. I don't know why yours wouldn't have the rubber seal.
                      The one I got came in a regular Motorcraft box with the Part# on it. Don't remember what the number was though and I threw the box out.

                      As long as it works...what the heck!
                      2005 & 2006 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ Fox Ridge Speedway (Dirt)
                      2008 & 2012 Track Champion-Hornet Division @ LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway (Asphalt)
                      WISPOC's Circle Track Connoisseur
                      Current racing stable: 89PGT, 92PGT, a couple parts cars

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        mine didnt fix my issue. car still wont warm up at all. i even fully blocked off the radiator so its seeing NO air, yet even on my 30+ min drive to work, it wont ever get above the very bottom of the M on NORM for the temp.

                        it sux... i dunno what to try next
                        PaTricK
                        ~ 92 PGT, 97 KL MTX 626, 05 Mazda6, 13 Mazda CX9, 09 Kia Sportage 4x4 v6 ~

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by xxxmonoxidechil
                          mine didnt fix my issue. car still wont warm up at all. i even fully blocked off the radiator so its seeing NO air, yet even on my 30+ min drive to work, it wont ever get above the very bottom of the M on NORM for the temp.

                          it sux... i dunno what to try next
                          sux? no this is what sucks, my car wont heat up. the temp gauge move up to the bottom of the line after warming the car up for about 20 min, then whan i start driving the car, the temp gauge read below normal and no heat again,rpm and iac causing the car to rev at 1500pm due to the coolant being too cold.the car had been park since monday. i will get it fix on weekend.
                          Last edited by ademan; December 20, 2007, 05:57 PM.
                          Everything in my signature and all that I post in the kills stories forum is BULLSHIT

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                          • #14
                            Mine gets just to the very bottom of M when it's chilly outside and runs great. Gas mileage is awesome and it runs smooth. I have a transmission cooler on it and a Napa t-stat and I'm not sweating it at all. My heater works great! It's blowing warm air in less than ten minutes. Water pump and t-stat are about 8,000 miles old, and the radiator has less than 2,000 miles on it. Temp gauge drops just a *bit* when I feel the t-stat open up by squeezing the upper hose. Just my 1 1/2 cents.

                            Ademan, are you sure your heater core isn't blocked?
                            my email address is NOT working!

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by ademan
                              sux? no this is what sucks, my car wont heat up. the temp gauge move up to the bottom of the line after warming the car up for about 20 min, then whan i start driving the car, the temp gauge read below normal and no heat again,rpm and iac causing the car to rev at 1500pm due to the coolant being too cold.the car had been park since monday. i will get it fix on weekend.
                              thats EXACTLY what mine is doing. if you block off the front of the radiatorm you it wont get colder, but sit right at the bottom of the M, pretty much at the line your talking about. its right about 130 degree's.

                              dood, if you fix it, hit me up and tell me what to do.

                              ive flushed the system, new radiator, new hoses, new mazda OEM thermostate, new mazda oem radiator cap, and new water pump. i dunno what else to change.........
                              PaTricK
                              ~ 92 PGT, 97 KL MTX 626, 05 Mazda6, 13 Mazda CX9, 09 Kia Sportage 4x4 v6 ~

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