okay my car needs a new thermostat, thats for sure, but my question is just how easy is this to do on your own? i've been told that its one of the easiest repairs you can do, but then again i am pretty much a noob mechanically wise. from my understanding, all i have to do is take off the gasket, change out the thermostat, scrape off all the old residue with a razor and then place the new gasket with the silicone and thats it. tell me if i'm missing something. also, is there any way i can seriously f*** this up and ruin something big-time? cuz if its anything risky that a noob shouldn't be doing, then i'll just have someone else do it for me. but i'd rather do it myself if it isn't too hard...

 

IS THIS ON YOUR 89 RS? NOT THAT IT REALLY MATTERS MUCH, I GUESS, IT'S BASICALLY THE SAME PROCEEDURE ON MOST OF OUR CARS. IT IS QUITE SIMPLE. FIRST, DRAIN THE ANTI-FREEZE. BE SURE TO SCRAPE OFF ALL OF THE OLD GASKET AND BE SURE NOT TO OVER TORQUE THE BOLTS WHEN GOING BACK IN. NOTE THE POSITION OF THE OLD THERMOSTAT SO THAT YOU DON'T PUT THE NEW ONE IN UPSIDE DOWN. RE-FILL WITH ANTI-FREEZE, START HER UP AND CHECK FOR LEAKS. LET IT GET UP TO OPERATING TEMP AND TURN ON THE HEATER, THERE SHOULD BE HOT AIR COMING OUT. THAT'S IT IN A NUTSHELL.

 

thanks man, sounds pretty basic

 

Bleed the system when you're done.

 

i did the switch yesterday, and still had problems so i figured it must have just been a faulty new thermostat, went back to autozone today, exchanged it, put that one in, and looks like i'm still gonna have overheating problems when standing still. what the effffff is wrong with my car??? and what does it mean to "bleed the system"??

 

Have you checked to make sure te fan is working? Does the 8 have electric fans? I believe they operate off the engine temp.

 

yeah the fan isn't working and i think that has everything to do with it now that you mention it.

 

My fan won't kick on until about 240 degrees or so.

I had a car that did this once. It was because whomever did work on the engine put the intake manifold gaskets on wrong. They had the block off plates on the front instead of the back. It took forever for the coolant at the thermostat to get hot enough to open it. If that is what you are seeing then a cheap temporary fix is to drill a small hole in the thermostat to allow coolant to flow through it when it is closed. This will allow the hot coolant to reach the thermostat and open it sooner. 1/16th should probably do it. I would also recommend getting a "reusable" gasket. I use this one and love it:

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...art=FEL-35562T

You may also have a water pump problem. Does the level of the coolant in the radiator change if you have the cap off and rev the engine? Usually it will fluctuate 1/2" or so when the throttle is blipped.

 

How hot does it get when you say 'overheating'? If its only halfway, or just past, thats not overheating. Its too hot if it goes past about 3/4, and thats about where the fans turn on.

 

Bleeding the system means to get all the air out of the cooling system. When you drain the engine of coolant, then fill it up, air pockets can form in the little areas off in the corners, etc. Those are bad. As the coolant circulates, they move around to a nice spot. I.e. they like to hide out right behind the thermostat, as the coolant pushes them there. That way the coolant itself gets rather hot, while the thermostat only measures the temp of the air pocket, which is a lot cooler. Thus, the thermostat doesn't open, and the gauge climbs and climbs. That's why you bleed the system.

Drilling a hole in the thermostat doesn't make coolant reach it any faster. All it does is allow a slight passage of coolant (and any air bubbles...) during operation.