Not sure if anyone has tried to do this before, anyway I thought I'd share my experiences;
According to the Honda Accord repair manual:
Thermostat Replacement
1. Drain the engine coolant.
2. Remove the splash shield.
3. Remove the lower hose, then remove the thermostat.
4. Install the thermostat with a new O-ring, then install the lower hose.
5. Install the splash shield.
6. Refill the radiator with engine coolant, and bleed air from the cooling system with the heater valve open.
Sounds easy right?
One problem, if you've ever tried to look for the thermostat from the underside with the splash shield removed on the 2.4 you'll know many swearing words will come out and there is no chance to get to it from there unless the subframe is dropped! From the top you have no way of getting to the housing, hose clip or housing bolts or so it would seem............
In the end I found an easier way;
Drain the coolant from the rad, easy from access in the splash shield, no need to remove the splash shield or even raise the car if you don't need to.
Remove the Coolant expansion tank from the top, few bolts and hose. (drain the old coolant out and clean the tank)
Remove the LH rad fan from the top, disconnecting the loom and a few bolts, pull out (only takes 10mins).
Then you have ample access to the thermostat housing hose and the housing bolts, with a little bit of direct sight restrictions but I was able to swap the stat in no time.
Replace as reverse, close the drain plug, clean up and re-fill with Type2 coolant.
Use a genuine Honda stat for peace of mind, it's only £48 and compared to what you can buy out there aftermarket there's not much in price.
19301-RAF-004
According to the Honda Accord repair manual:
Thermostat Replacement
1. Drain the engine coolant.
2. Remove the splash shield.
3. Remove the lower hose, then remove the thermostat.
4. Install the thermostat with a new O-ring, then install the lower hose.
5. Install the splash shield.
6. Refill the radiator with engine coolant, and bleed air from the cooling system with the heater valve open.
Sounds easy right?
One problem, if you've ever tried to look for the thermostat from the underside with the splash shield removed on the 2.4 you'll know many swearing words will come out and there is no chance to get to it from there unless the subframe is dropped! From the top you have no way of getting to the housing, hose clip or housing bolts or so it would seem............
In the end I found an easier way;
Drain the coolant from the rad, easy from access in the splash shield, no need to remove the splash shield or even raise the car if you don't need to.
Remove the Coolant expansion tank from the top, few bolts and hose. (drain the old coolant out and clean the tank)
Remove the LH rad fan from the top, disconnecting the loom and a few bolts, pull out (only takes 10mins).
Then you have ample access to the thermostat housing hose and the housing bolts, with a little bit of direct sight restrictions but I was able to swap the stat in no time.
Replace as reverse, close the drain plug, clean up and re-fill with Type2 coolant.
Use a genuine Honda stat for peace of mind, it's only £48 and compared to what you can buy out there aftermarket there's not much in price.
19301-RAF-004