Thermostat - pictures of a stock thermostat for a GM 3800 Series 2 NA
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 262
From: St Louis Missouri
Thermostat - pictures of a stock thermostat for a GM 3800 Series 2 NA
Here are pictures of the stock thermostat for my 2002 Monte Carlo SS 3800 Series 2 N/A
I am posting these because the generic ones the discount auto parts store will try to sell you look nothing like this, I recommend getting one that is specifically for your engine, not the generic, for about 7 dollars more than the generic it came with the rubber gasket (the generic did not) and I know I have the right part that functions as designed.
I am posting these because the generic ones the discount auto parts store will try to sell you look nothing like this, I recommend getting one that is specifically for your engine, not the generic, for about 7 dollars more than the generic it came with the rubber gasket (the generic did not) and I know I have the right part that functions as designed.
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2,483
From: lakeland fl
hay some of us stockeys like our monte's to run cool as well. i have a cooler thermastat. i am luck to find it when i did my coolent flush. us 3.5 guy's have it a little ruffer than the 3.8 guy's. any improvment for us is a good thing including the cooler thermo is a good thing. remember the cooler the engine runs the better it runs. any thing that disapates the heat better is a good thing and it is also less wier on the engine like gaskets things like that
Monte Of The Month -- January 2010
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 8,464
From: San Jose, CA
The 3.5L/3.9L come from the facotry with a cooler T-Stat. They are 185 from the factory.
And as for the OEM ones, I am a firm believer in an OEM T-Stat/ gasket after trying 3 different Fel-Pro "replacement, improved" gaskets. NONE of them fit, or sealed. The only gasket that worked was the OEM gasket for my 3.5L T-stat. Then again, the 3.5/3.9L T-Stat gasket is different than most GM T-Stat gaskets, and that is what I tried to explain to the parts guys. Nobody understood that the gaskets they were offering me were NOT the right gasket for my car, not even the dealer.
So I bought a whole new T-Stat, which of course had the right gasket on it.
And as for the OEM ones, I am a firm believer in an OEM T-Stat/ gasket after trying 3 different Fel-Pro "replacement, improved" gaskets. NONE of them fit, or sealed. The only gasket that worked was the OEM gasket for my 3.5L T-stat. Then again, the 3.5/3.9L T-Stat gasket is different than most GM T-Stat gaskets, and that is what I tried to explain to the parts guys. Nobody understood that the gaskets they were offering me were NOT the right gasket for my car, not even the dealer.
So I bought a whole new T-Stat, which of course had the right gasket on it.
