As some of you might know, I had some engine overheating issues, and the culprit was a dead thermostat.
I took some pictures of the process and decided to make this small howto.
Please note, my car runs on LPG, you might see "weird" things in the engine bay, such as the LPG filter or the LPG injectors. Also, my car is RHD, the LHD version may have other components near the thermostat housing, such as the brake or clutch elements.
The process is very simple. Make sure you are working on a cold engine, otherwise you can burn yourself, as the system is under pressure and the coolant can be quite hot.
The first thing to do is to remove the intake pipe which goes from the throttle body to the air filter box. This is quite easy, just loose two bolts, one on each end, pull off the pipe, and you are done. Make sure to remove the breather tube which goes from the intake pipe to the valve cover.
After doing that, you must get something like the next pictures, with the thermostat housing at sight.
Then, remove the fan switch connector, and the bolts which hold the thermostat housing. There are 3 bolts which hold the thermostat housing: the 2 marked with a red arrow, and a third marked with a yellow arrow, which is quite hidden. Near the yellow one, there is another bolt which hold that metal plate. It's also a good idea to remove that bolt, so it's easier to reach the 3ยบ bolt.
After removing the bolts, pull the thermostat housing, and you should see the thermostat inside. It might be stuck, take it out it with a pliers. Note the position of the thermostat, that "nipple" should be at that position. Also, the sealant has a small "part" which fits a recession in the housing, so there is no way to install it in a wrong position.
In the following picture, its possible to see that little part of the sealant which must fit the recession of the thermostat housing.
Then, just put the new thermostat in place, in the right position, ***emble everything together in the reverse order and fill the radiator with anti-freeze. Let engine run and look for leeks. In the next days, you should look the level of the anti-freeze, since it may go down a bit as the engine bleeds it self. The F18B2 engine doesn't need to be bled, but if your engine needs manual bleeding, make sure you do it, otherwise you may have overheating issues.
If someone have any question, let me know, I will be happy to help B)
I took some pictures of the process and decided to make this small howto.
Please note, my car runs on LPG, you might see "weird" things in the engine bay, such as the LPG filter or the LPG injectors. Also, my car is RHD, the LHD version may have other components near the thermostat housing, such as the brake or clutch elements.
The process is very simple. Make sure you are working on a cold engine, otherwise you can burn yourself, as the system is under pressure and the coolant can be quite hot.
The first thing to do is to remove the intake pipe which goes from the throttle body to the air filter box. This is quite easy, just loose two bolts, one on each end, pull off the pipe, and you are done. Make sure to remove the breather tube which goes from the intake pipe to the valve cover.
After doing that, you must get something like the next pictures, with the thermostat housing at sight.
Then, remove the fan switch connector, and the bolts which hold the thermostat housing. There are 3 bolts which hold the thermostat housing: the 2 marked with a red arrow, and a third marked with a yellow arrow, which is quite hidden. Near the yellow one, there is another bolt which hold that metal plate. It's also a good idea to remove that bolt, so it's easier to reach the 3ยบ bolt.
After removing the bolts, pull the thermostat housing, and you should see the thermostat inside. It might be stuck, take it out it with a pliers. Note the position of the thermostat, that "nipple" should be at that position. Also, the sealant has a small "part" which fits a recession in the housing, so there is no way to install it in a wrong position.
In the following picture, its possible to see that little part of the sealant which must fit the recession of the thermostat housing.
Then, just put the new thermostat in place, in the right position, ***emble everything together in the reverse order and fill the radiator with anti-freeze. Let engine run and look for leeks. In the next days, you should look the level of the anti-freeze, since it may go down a bit as the engine bleeds it self. The F18B2 engine doesn't need to be bled, but if your engine needs manual bleeding, make sure you do it, otherwise you may have overheating issues.
If someone have any question, let me know, I will be happy to help B)