it is almost easier to take the cam positioning sensor out and go from there but there are other ways....if you take the cps out make sure it goes back in exactly how it came out or your car will run like **** or maybe won't even start

 

i used a 1/4" drive with a swivel. works great. took 10mins to change the thermostat(2.0 lsj)

 

Did you go from underneath? Or did you go from up top around all the electrical wire and hoses?

 

from the top. got to the two bolts from back was near the firewall and the third from front right under the cam position sensor. will try and get a how-to on here soon.

 

Changed the one on my 2.2 cause the seal went bad, piece o cake 2 bolts and less than half an hour. Guess the SC would be a tad more difficult.

 

Drain the fluid. Unbolt the three bolts from the top. I laid under the car to remove and reinstall the thermostat. Reinstall the three bolts. Fill the recovery bottle and start the car. Top it off occaisionally.
The thermostats in these cars seem to stick open around 60 to 75k miles. I've owned two SS's and they both stuck open somewhere in that mileage range.

 

was a turbo converted ss/sc with one. dunno if he still has it or what the deal was. was hungryhip from cali IIRC

 

Okay, I'll be doing it on my days off. I'll take pictures to write up a how to.

 

Dead on in my case. Went out around 65k. It is stuck open. I'll get around to it when it is a little warmer out.

Please do.

 

Wow yea, mine went at 78k. Gonna change it this weekend. 20 bucks at pepboys. I saw a lot of people were talking about making a how to but I can't find any?? Maybe ill take some pics this weekend and put them up

 

It's a pain in the butt. Do yourself a favor and remove the fuse box, makes getting to the pita bolt much easier. Here's a pic to help. Only have to remove the three bolts on the top of the thermostat housing but the one closest to the engine is hard to get to

 

wow didnt see this till after i did the job. ha. yea it was a pain. 3 bolts and 2 hrs of labor. had to have a friend hold the socket on while i loosened them. only about 3/5th quart of coolant spilled out when i did this, just missed both pans i had underneath -_-. lol i guess the previous owner changed it before and forgot the gasket of the old one in there cause i found that there was an extra gasket stuck holding the thermostat open!! it was really odd to find that in there...

 

What were the symptoms of yours being bad?

 

Mine is also stuck open. It takes about 20 mins of driving for the car to warm up. I stuck a small piece of cardboard in front of part of the radiator last year during the cooold winter months to help a bit.

I tried replacing the t-stat about 2 years ago and gave up b/c I couldn't figure a way to get to the bolts...I must have been going about it the wrong way.
Hopefully somebody will post some good pics and a how-to on here soon....

 

really its just those 3 bolts. u can see them all from different angles. for the one nearest the engine where you have to duck down and look from near the air intake pipe. i used 2 swivels. socket-swivel-3in extension-swivel-10in extension. thats the set up i had and had another guy stick his arm down behind the engine blockfrom the otherside of the engine and he was able to hold the socket on the bolt while i turned it. it is VERY difficult to get those bolts. i know pepboys charges 2.4 labor hours to do it. which is about 168 dollars. you could go there if u really cant get it. i thought about it lol. but my coworkers there would have been angry with me.

 

I did it on my wifes 2.2...it wasnt that bad. Just have to remove 3x bolts and then the hose comes loose. you then pull out the old thermostat, and put the new one in...bolt the three back up. Done

Make sure you put something under the pipe cause a **** ton of coolant will flow out.

 

on the drivers side of the engine between the engine and the fuse box and your gonna get coolant everywhere so make sure you have stuff down to catch it in but its not hard but yeah you will have to do it from underneath the car

 

i dont know how u were able to see the top of the bolt heads from under the car if they face up. i just did my from the top. now im interested tho. ill have to get a look from that angle.

 

Same here. mines now stuck open. 2.0LSJ @65,400 miles. it usually runs around 157-160F occasionally i can get it up to 178 but thats if im sitting for awhile. if im cruising its bin around 160 for the past week or so. takes awhile to warm up. looks like im replacing my thermostat

 

Youll throw a P0128 code when the car officially wants a new thermostat


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my thermostat went when i smashed up my LSJ on nov 14th. i got it back on december 5th (3weeks later), new rad support, new rad, ac condensor...headlight.. hood. fender. blah blah. basicly my front passenger side.. after i got it back i noticed it was running 160ish F coolant temp... colder then the norm.. figured maybe it was from a new radiator and new fluid and its winter. i threw that p0128 code about a week after geting my car back while xmas shopping. i just cleard it with my aeroforce thought maybe a fluke..... just got the code again last night and did some google research looks like its the thermostat. im glad its stuck open and not stuck closed still driveable just gotta keep my eye on the coolant and ait2temp

 

lmao your comment is stupid