Leak at thermostat

BENBRYANT

MEMBER
OLDSMOBILE

1996 Olds Achieva, 2.4L 4 cyl. Quad4, stick shift, 120,000 miles. My temp gauge started rising:I have discovered a leak at the thermostat housing at the engine block, so I figured I needed a new gasket. So I bought a new one and a new thermostat. But now I see this may be a tougher job than on older cars. There is very little room, and there is a rigid metal pipe connecting to the plastic housing that goes to the plastic overflow container. Seems it may be quite hard after taking the bolts off to even back it away far enough to put in a new thermostat and gasket. But there is a small metal mount that the pipe connets to the block, that I can get off(one bolt), but then it looks like I would have to bend the pipe to the right, and may even have to disconnect the upper radiator hose to be able to have enough room, Can someone please advise me how I may be able to do this(I'm not a mechanic, thats for sure), or should I take it to a shop?

1 Reply

CLY

MECHANIC
308 POSTS

That has to be one the hardest cars to put a thermastat in. I woud remove the heatsheld on the exhaust mainfold then if you look straight down towards the thermastat then you will see two bolts. Take a long exstintion and a 5/16 socket and remove those two bolts. Now if you look at that pipe were it runs under the front of the oil pan you will see a 13mm bolt/stud that you will need to remove. Once you have that removed you will be able to lower the pipe in order to replace the thermastat. When you are going back together with it make sure and start all the bolts and then tightend them down.

Good Luck

Cly