Mission Impossible: Thermostat change on a 98 Sentra GA16DE

If it ain't broken...

No easy way I know of - I agree that it's in a terrible place for access. A mirror helps. Also the coolant hose clamps in that area are a near impossibility. Don't forget the two bleed screws when refilling the system, one on the intake manifold - above right of the water pump, the other one on the head under/behind the distributor is easy to miss. Both marked with "don't remove when engine hot" stickers. The drain plug for the block is behind the catalytic converter.

Agreed,

Technicians rule #1

1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

rule #2

1. Customers don't break/fuc* up their cars, The Technician does.

The only reason to change the thermostat when you change the AF is to avoid a possible failure (and loss of new AF when you have to change it). Since the failure mode is not severe (your car runs cold until you fix it) and since the AF is not very expensive, I'd let it ride until it starts acting up.

Thanks for the tip. I'm leaving it for when the pump fails. rusted out bolts added to the difficulty of getting at parts. Damned Northest weather.

And for those who thought I was replacing it just for the hell of it, the thermostat was displaying classic worn out behavior: car gets warm, get on the highway, car gets cold. After 170K miles, my thermostat may not be broke, but it sure is tired, and I wnted to keep my car warm during the coming winter months.

CD

Codifus wrote in news:WgJ_i.6$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe10.lga:

Yes,it is broke;the temp would not be fluctuating if it wasn't broke.

you can't find a shop to change it for you? They have lifts and can get at it from underneath easier,and are usually heated shops,up north.

I think that might be a good idea. From my experience, it doesn't seem to take much of an engine overheat for these alloy heads to crack. YMMV.

But my car is underheating, not overheating. If it was too hot, I'd have it in the shop in a second. It's been said that these thermostats, when they fail, fail open. Apparently that's what's going on here.

CD

Probably right... but... I just went outside to take a look. Lever the wiring loom clip off the housing to give yourself more room if you need it. Leave the inlet hose clamp on. The bottom bolt isn't that hard to get at from above - it's just that you can't see it, but you can feel it, and can get to it with a 3/8 drive 10mm socket on a short extension. After you get the cover off, you should be able to turn it a bit to loosen the hose clamp with a stubby screwdriver if you can't get a socket on it. You only need to get the hose off if you want t clean the cover up before putting it back on. Page from manual here:

Yep, you should ignore the other posts and fix it then. It will cost you comfort and mileage.