I was wondering about the position of my thermostat on a 2000 buick park ave, and the size of the bolts thats holding my thermostat housing together? I recently had someone take it out because
it wasnt opening, I went and bought a new one, and I would like to put it back in myself. I know where the thermostat is located but i dont know if the way I put the thermostat in matters, or do i have to put it in the same position it was taken out of? Also what are the size of the bolts holding the housing together? I dont want to use a regular wrench and risk stripping the bolts I want to buy a socket wrench to use so if anyone knows the size of the bolts would really help me get a kwik repair done! Thanks for all the help!!!
Yes it matters which direction the stat faces. The sensor side needs to be toward the engine. ie; the hot water coming from the engine needs to touch the sensor portion of the stat for it to know when it’s hot. The sensor is usually withing the spring opposite the pointy tip.
No offense, but based on your post you should just have someone else do this.
Even if you do that just buy a socket set. Buying sockets by the job is a very expensive strategy. Basic sets of combined SAE/Metric are not all that expensive. Buy something with a lifetime warranty & you make this a one time purchase for life. (I have broken both Craftsman and Kobalt stuff (from Lowe’s) and gotten replacements with zero hassle).
The “pellet” on the thermostat faces the engine on this one, as on the vast majority of other vehicles on the road. Being a GM, the thermostat housing bolts are probably either 10mm or 13mm hex, couldn’t tell you for sure off the top of my head. After the thermostat is installed, be sure to bleed the air out of the system before running the engine to prevent damage. There is a bleeder valve on the thermostat housing that needs to be opened when adding coolant. Fill until a steady stream of coolant is flowing from the bleeder, and be sure to close it while it’s flowing. Failure to do so will leave air in the system that could cause some pretty substantial damage.
One more thing to add, make sure you use a new gasket and the mating surfaces are clean. When tightening the bolts on the thermostat housing, use equal amounts of torque on each bolt, going back and forth between them.
DO NOT tighten one bolt down first then the other or you could crack the housing.
@ mark…I dont see a bleeder valve anywhere on my housing can u explain what this would look like? I dont want to cause any damage to my engine by getting air trapped inside!!! Also what kind of problems can u have if u dont use ur thermostat for a cple days? not plannin to do it or any thing jus wonderin…or puttin water instead of using antifreeze for a couple days could that effect the way my car runs? Jus a cple of questions, i like to have the info in case its needed in the future? Thanks
Don’t run it on straight water. You want to keep the corrosion inhibitors in there.
Running it without the thermostat will likely keep it running too cool. It will then run rich, waste gas, and possibly produce other unwanted things like damage to your catalytic converter. However - running it around a little for a couple of days will probably not harm anything.
If you have a bleeder it probably looks like a little brass nut on top of the housing someplace. Its basically just a screw with a hole in it & when loosened the hole lets air/coolant bleed out. The key is actually to have someplace where the air can escape & it has to be at the highest point in the cooling system. If you can get the front of the car up even just a little you can start by running with the radiator cap off for a while & most of the air will go out that way. You can also bleed at the upper radiator hose by loosening the clamp and inserting a flat bladed screwdriver or something to give the air a path out.
I kind of agree, maybe you should just let someone else do it. If it was like mine, you not only need a socket but a knuckle joint too, because it is hard to get at. Plus if I remember right, I used a 1/4 drive as well as a 3/8 inch drive on the bolt. Also, again depending on if it is the same, it takes an O ring around the thermostat as well as another O ring on the housing. You have to ask for them and don’t come with the thermostat. I always kept spares so I didn’t have to deal with the deer in the headlights look at the parts counter. Buy a whole set of sockets.