Changed Thermostat ..... Hurray!!!!!! Options

[FrankB2]

Okay.... I'm lazy sometimes. I bought a Toyota thermostat at least a year ago, since my engine was running cold during cold weather. I live in a townhouse community, and didn't feel like bothering. On days when the temps were below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, the needle would go up around 1/4" at 35 mph, and on colder days, it would barely move. My wife and I cruise the road that runs along the frosty Delaware River, and it was just plain cold inside the car this winter. Soooooo.......

I called the local Toyota dealer, and asked how much for a flush and to install the thermostat. $90 for the flush, and two hours labor to install the thermostat @$105/hour!!!! I told the guy he was a joke, and hung up. A pan under the engine, a 10mm socket for the top nut, and a stubby 10mm wrench for the bottom nut, and I was done in 15 minutes. I didn't flush the system, but the temperature gauge is pegged right in the center now, it heats up very fast, and there's loads of cabin heat. I drove it for an hour just to make sure everything was good, and that needle never moved.

The weird thing was this. The top and bottom hoses used to get hard as a rock after the engine had been running for a while. Not a hot engine, just once it had run for 20 minutes. Now the hoses can be compressed without using a Kung Fu grip. The old thermostat's plunger was in about 1/4" further than the new one, so I'll assume it was stuck open. I wish I had done this back in 2013......

I should probably have the system flushed, but who knows what the dealer will come up with. $210 to replace a thermostat?!? I bet they do them all day long.

[Box]

All dealers do for a flush is pour in the same stuff you can get from the parts house or Wally World, run it and then dump it and put in new coolant. If the coolant looked clean I really wouldn't worry about it. Plus they usually use tap water, where as you really should be using distilled water.

[FrankB2]

It might be worse than that. I called the Valvoline oil change place right down the street, and they said a coolant "flush" only takes 10 minutes. I googled flushing machines, and I guess they're using one of these: http://youtu.be/LBYJ_9Q0m0w

That thing sucks out the old, and pumps in the new coolant. No flushing that I can see, and I imagine the Toyota dealer uses the same thing. I had a blocked heater core on a '96 Caprice, and the dealer did flush that, but I had just bought the car a few days before (used).

This post has been edited by FrankB2: Feb 11, 2015 - 9:09 AM

[Jmk91]

Okay.... I'm lazy sometimes. I bought a Toyota thermostat at least a year ago, since my engine was running cold during cold weather. I live in a townhouse community, and didn't feel like bothering. On days when the temps were below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, the needle would go up around 1/4" at 35 mph, and on colder days, it would barely move. My wife and I cruise the road that runs along the frosty Delaware River, and it was just plain cold inside the car this winter. Soooooo.......

I called the local Toyota dealer, and asked how much for a flush and to install the thermostat. $90 for the flush, and two hours labor to install the thermostat @$105/hour!!!! I told the guy he was a joke, and hung up. A pan under the engine, a 10mm socket for the top nut, and a stubby 10mm wrench for the bottom nut, and I was done in 15 minutes. I didn't flush the system, but the temperature gauge is pegged right in the center now, it heats up very fast, and there's loads of cabin heat. I drove it for an hour just to make sure everything was good, and that needle never moved.

The weird thing was this. The top and bottom hoses used to get hard as a rock after the engine had been running for a while. Not a hot engine, just once it had run for 20 minutes. Now the hoses can be compressed without using a Kung Fu grip. The old thermostat's plunger was in about 1/4" further than the new one, so I'll assume it was stuck open. I wish I had done this back in 2013......

I should probably have the system flushed, but who knows what the dealer will come up with. $210 to replace a thermostat?!? I bet they do them all day long.

I had my celica flushed and thermostat installed for 240. They charged me 40$ for OEM thermostat and 57$ for install and flush and coolant ran and everything ran me 240. Installing a thermostat is as easy as counting to 10 but you need to use OEM coolant in our Toyotas... Buying the coolant and flushing it my self would've ran me 130 or I pay 110$ and they do all the work for me. I mean who wants to freeze flushing coolant system out in winter. I'm in Ohio and total was 239.86 or something I can upload a copy of my receipt. It was well worth it. My heat went from kinda OK to heat on roids. Its crazy how much heat it pumps out. Also its good to flush your system every so often. Do it your self kits range 20$ and you than have hazardous waste (old coolant) that you got to load up to auto zone for free disposal but still a pain. Better off having dealership do all the hard work. Add the 130+20 for do it your self kit that's 150 on my own plus gas, time and engery and freezing factor so I thought it was a good deal for everything done at 240.

[Smaay]

just get a kit from autozone and flush it yourself. its not hard at all. once you have clear water coming out, drain the system and refill with 50/50 mix with toyota red coolant and distilled water.

[FrankB2]

just get a kit from autozone and flush it yourself. its not hard at all. once you have clear water coming out, drain the system and refill with 50/50 mix with toyota red coolant and distilled water.

I used to do that all the time when I had my own driveway. I guess I'll have to borrow one, once the temps go up. The good news is my car's temp gauge is still pegged at 9 o'clock, and I'm too warm in the car.

It looked like the dealer at least put new coolant in the car back in the Fall of 2012. It's an amber color, and they're a GM dealer, so I'm guessing Dexcool. I put a gallon of Prestone 50/50 in yesterday, so that should keep me going until March.

This post has been edited by FrankB2: Feb 11, 2015 - 4:12 PM

[Box]

I just always use the SuperTech brand from Wally World and distilled water, also from Wally World. It's silicate and borate free just like the Toyota stuff, so I don't see the point in spending 5x as much. Unless you just have to have pink fluid instead of yellow-green.