Most thermostats, on the Fords and Chevy's I've worked on, it is tucked behind the upper radiator hose, take the hose clamp loose, maybe a quart of anti freeze comes out, you unbolt the housing, put in a new thermostat (make sure it is aligned properly) and bolt it all back up, tighten the hose clamp, and go! $10 most of the time for a thermostat. You can replace the gasket while you're at it, no big deal. you could just put some gasket sealer/former around it (small tube of junk for like $5) This must be something all the way around different than the way traditional thermostats are installed....

 

The WHOLE coolant system is different in these cars.

 

Chevrolet had a good cooling system on their engines too... I've heard of them going up to 500-600 hp on stock cooling systems and not having any problem in the V8's on the drag strips.... I suppose the engineers at General Motors had a good reason for making things this way, but I sure don't know what it was!

 

Well the t-stat ended up costing me $23 and the guy gave me an extra gasket to return if I don't need it. I'll have to get some coolant and something to catch it in. High of 33 on Saturday so I'm thinking that'll be the day.

Thanks guys. I'll take pictures if I remember for future people.

 

You got a great deal on the thermostat, thats for sure! Where did you buy it, and what brand is it?

You can get Prestone Dex-Cool at Wal-Mart for pretty cheap FYI.

 

You can also run Prestone Yellow in your car. Yellow mixes with the dex-cool no problems. Then you can just wait for the spring to do a full flush probably

 

Ah sweet, I may end up doing that if it'll mix fine.

That's where I usually get it, runs like $10 a gallon. I got it from Advance Auto here in Laramie, I get a discount for being a university student No idea on the brand, it's sitting in the backseat of the car at the moment.

 

I never like running a mixture, that's why I recommend doing the flush when you can. Just in case, but it will mix without making the milkshake that green would make.

Also you can find it already 50/50 if you want your life easier

 

hahaha Mike took the words out of my mouth. I was just going to say, yes you can use the Prestone yellow, but I personally would not until you can do a COMPLETE flush. I am ****, and hate mixing fluids, if you can't flush all the Dex-Cool out, and refill with Prestone yellow, then I would stick to Dex-Cool.

Also, yes the 50/50 mix works fine, but you get much less for your Money that way. Its like $1-2 per gallon less for 50/50 mix, when you're only getting half a gallon of coolant. I always buy concentrate coolant, and distilled water...but thats just me.

 

Dealing with colder weather MaMonte Mike, I usually take the easier route until I can get a warm day to do the FULL flush.

I know what it's like to have to do some coolant work in 10° weather, so I would probably do it the easier way and run a mixture for a month or so haha