How to change a thermostat

Your thermostat is located at the back of the engine while looking at the engine bay. Unfortunately you need a GM tool that holds your timing in place while changing the thermostat on one of these engines.

Not hard at all. Looking at the vehicle on the right side you should see the upper radiator hose, connected to it you should have what they call the "thermostat housing" remove it and the thermostat should be there. Replace it and the seal. A 6 min fix

Just replace the thermostat. They are cheap and generally very easy to change. Look on youtube or google for your model of vehicle followed by thermostat replacement.

here is a pic of the thermostat housing in case you dont know what it looks like. its a very easy part to change although sometimes they are hard to get to. just make sure you do not put the thermostat in backwards the coil on the thermostat should go towards the hot side (coolant coming from the engine)

the thermostat is located on top of your engine block where the upper radiatior hose connects to your engine. typically, changing to a slightly hotter thermostat helps the vehicle burn fuel better resulting in SLIGHLTY better fuel mileage and performance, and better emissions. but if you go TOO hot you may end up looking at predetonation (pinging), so choose wisely.

That is called the bypass hose. It could be leaking but I'd take a closer look at the thermostat housing. If you replaced only the thermostat and not the housing, the housing may be leaking. It's a common source of coolant leaks.

Fig. 5: View of the thermostat and related components - 2.4L engine (click for zoom)


3.1L and 3.3L Engines

1. Disconnect the negative battery cable.
2. Drain the cooling system to a level below the thermostat housing.
3. Remove the air cleaner assembly.
4. Disconnect the surge tank line from the thermostat housing.
5. Remove thermostat housing-to-intake manifold attaching bolt and nut, then remove the housing.
6. Remove the thermostat.

Hope this helps.

Anyway, you will need the spare part. Look for thermostat only, if it is sold w/o housing, it can be replaced separately. Also, look whether your housing allows disassembling.

check your radiator ,when cold take the cap off and look inside sometimes mineral deposits build up on the core and restrict the flow and the thermostat could be bad or if you used sealer on the thermostat housing you may have used too much and that could stop the thermostat from opening,look for the simple things first.