I called a local shop and they said the labor would be $30.00 and the part could range from $20 – $50 depending on the brand (anywhere from $40 – $80). The s…
How-To: Thermostat Replacement 98 Saturn SL1
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Thank you!!
My car is a 94 Saturn Sl1 and is overheating, would this process be the same for my model and would this resolve my issue???
Ha ha ha ha. Yeah 1 oz. is very respectable. GOOD JOB!
Also, I was lazy and it was too hard to get the push pins out, and I live on a street, so I couldn’t jack up the car easily, so I didn’t drain the radiator through drain plug, but rather I took the hose off the t-stat housing and poured it into my drain pan (maybe got at most 1 oz on the street, which is pretty good, I thought).
Great walkthrough, thanks. I just replaced mine this morning (2002 SL2) and used your walkthrough as a guide. I replaced it becase the check engine light kept coming on and the code said either the t-stat was defective or the ECT was broken. I hope it’s the t-stat, though when I took it out this morning, the old one “looked” fine (better than your old one). By the way, got mine at Auto Zone too and it was the German/Israeli-rebuild just like yours. Thanks again.
Indeed it is =)
Is it the same for a 97 ?
Niiice. It feels good saving money doesn’t it 😉
The recommended DEXCOOL should be just fine. Depending on what part of the east coast you might run an additive if your temps during the winter are close to 0.
For instance. If you live in Maine (east coast), your needs during the winter will differ significantly than someone from lets say S. Carolina or Georgia.
#1 never fill your car with only water/half water is the proper way no vehicle is designed for only water
#2 thank you for the video only advise I have is buy your thermostat from a saturn retailer u see the one he bought was made in germany used until worn out then remanufactured in isreal and sold as new not that its bad just more reliable from saturn
#3 Saturns are some of the best cars on the road and saturn owners as a whole all seem to be willing to help other saturn owners TY
What hose would you take off, bend and hold in place with a rubber band? Is the thermostat the reason why the AC/Heat doesn’t work?
Nothing. But if you live in a place where the temps drop below 32 (freezing) i’d advice not to use water unless you want the water to freeze up, expand, and burst tube/gaskets.
Also, coolant has a lubricating property to it that helps prolong the water pump. Without that your water pump will not last as long.
But there is no immediate negative consequences to filling up HALF the reservoir with water.
Anyone else want to chime in on this discussion?
Thanks again for the input every suggestion helps.
I can totally understand the frustration when it comes to throwing new parts (AKA MONEY$) into the car when all that is needed is something petty like a cap, gasket, washer, etc.
I’ve lost years off my life stressing about stupid stuff like that =P.
What happens if you fill half of the coolant tank with water?
and then that will create backage in the coolant system that will cause ur antifreeze to come out of the resevoir tank like if it not circulating, which then will cause the reservoir tank cap to crack on the inside that will cause the car to loose pressure to circulate the antifreeze through the car, HAD IT HAPPENED ONCE drove me crazy after replacing uneeded parts it was all due to the cap and not feeling the colant to the right level.
Naw cuz this car does not work in the way of a vacuum it only circulates the antifreeze through the system that is all. Plus the only coolant you will looose is the one from the engine where the thermostat goes to, but make sure you refill it right due to the system needs to refill the engine once again if not your car will run hot
Makes sense to me I never even thought of that.
Thanks for the input =).
Quick question though. Would doing it that way create air bubbles in he system or no?
Why drain the coolant just take the hose off and bend it and held it in place with a rubber band, why drain everything when u can loose some and just refill that lil bit instead off it all , and this is one more LESS STEP U NEED TO DO .
Also I would recommend the liquid gasket for a better seal, as mentioned by the person that mad this video, as well as to keep the gasket in place during installation. It would suck to get done and find that you have a leak due to the gasket being crooked.
Thanks for this video and the O2 sensor video. Got those done and the Coolant Temp sensor this morning just to make sure I got the problem solved. (Problem coded by Autozone’s tool). The only issues I had with the thermostat was getting the back thermostat bolt tight after I changed it (hoses were a pain) and getting the barrier off to get to the radiator drain. I broke all the little plugs holding the barrier so I’ll have to get another set of those. Again thanks a lot!
The 195 is what they come with from the factory… It makes for optimum efficiency… The liquid gasket is not needed, the o-ring should seal fine on its own…
couple questions:
1. Why go from the 180 to 195 degree thermostat?
2. Is the liquid gasket you applied mandatory?
@CCSSSSSSCCAAAA i watched ur video about the spark plugs. =D
@CCAAASSSCCAAAA WE SPOKE BEFORE IWHILE AGO, BUT I HAVE THE SAME CAR AS YOU.
Not necessarily “bad”. I would just say not optimal. Emissions will go up slightly with an engine that’s cool and fuel economy will go down slightly as well. So if you’re trying to get your car to pass smog (like us here in California =/), you’d want to have the higher temp thermostat.
Engines work best at a comfortable temp. The “comfortable” temp is different for each car so you’d have to check into what type of car you have and what environment you’ll be driving it in.
@CCAAASSSCCAAAA is the 180 a badd thermastat?
I just acquired a 00 Saturn SL1, what type of coolant should I use for east coast weather?
Nope. No special tools or unnecessary problems while taking the bolts off. usually when I encounter something that is unexpected I’ll add some annotations to the video to try to give the audience watching a heads up.
I only had to use the one wrench with the one 10mm socket. My extensions came up to be around 8 inches long. It took longer to wait for the liquid gasket to dry and the coolant to drain than to actually install the new stat.
You shouldn’t have much trouble
Thank you so much for putting this up here! Mine didn’t pass the smog and that’s the only thing that needs done to pass. My 1996 has had quite a few problems in the past year, it’s been too expensive to get fixed at the auto-shop so I decided to do it myself. Parts, manual, coolant and sealant all cost me about 40 at the pep-boys so I’m saving about $150. Thanks for the tips, it’s going to be a lot easier now!
– You’re very welcome. Most people don’t seem to realize they can save some money if they’ didn’t mind getting a little dirty and watching a video. Most of the DIY regular maintenance stuff is fairly simple. =D
i so appreciate you guys on you tube who take the time to show us how to do these things!!
i own a 95 SC2 with ac issues. mine however is a wiring issue that keeps blowing the 7.5 amp fuse which kicks on the compressor. but yeah yours sounds as it needs to be charged which is really easy. you just buy the freon at any parts store. buy the one with the hose and guage as you will need that. you have two lines a hi and lo pressure. unscrew the lo pressure cap. start your car turn on the ac on the highest setting. connect the hose and slowly open the valve of the freon
That sounds like it needs to be charged. I had a civic in the past and it did have freon in it but it had to do with some kind of clutch to actually engage the AC system.
Search online to see what components are associated with the S-series AC unit. When it comes to AC’s I’m completely clueless. I think the reason being is I live in a place that doesn’t really require me to run AC so If mine needs to get replaced or recharged I just leave it alone and don’t bother.
I have a 1996 do i do the same thing u did but fyi my AC blows out hot will that make it work better but it needs to be change
Nothing. Just added insurance. Most of the time just using the gasket alone will get the job done.
Hey, got a question (hopefully you see it, as I plan on doing this tomorrow!!!). What is that liquid gasket stuff? Do I absolutely have to have it do replace the thermostat? The thermostat came with a rubber gasket, and I was just going to use that by itself until I saw this vid.
And thanks for posting the vid!!! This is really helping me prepare to do my work tomorrow.
The only thing that I can think of is the thermostat (which you can use this video as a reference) or try flushing out the cooling/heating system.
There is gunk that can get caught in the cooling system (through time) that might hinder the flow of the heated coolant/water through the heater core which will then lower the temp of the heated air coming into the cab (especially at lower engine speeds).
When’s the last time you had the whole system flushed?