[mtnride]

Just replaced wife’s thermostat this weekend.
AC wasn’t blowing as cold as she thought it should and engine overheating. Thermostat and 1 gallon of coolant at VW dealer $133.00


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[mtnride]

Yes, same engine, I did mine also a few years back. I don’t remember losing as much coolant on mine as I did with the wife’s on Saturday. Maybe someone can chime in on which hoses to clamp.
As the receipt shows I bought 1 gallon of ready mix 50/50 and I needed more as I think I drained the whole system.
1 remove belly pans, air filter cover and air filter
2 I clamped both hoses going into thermostat housing and remove hoses. Still lost all the coolant so maybe skip this step and just drain into a bucket,

3 remove 5 bolts securing thermostat housing to water pump.
4 reverse order to install
5 refill with coolant, start car and shut down, add More coolant as needed, start again and check for leaks.
6 turn on heat full blast to remove air bubbles in coolant line. If no heat comes out, rev engine a couple of times till heat comes on.
7 reinstall belly pans.


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[mtnride]

I forgot you also need to disconnect electrical connection on thermostat. I also unplugged the brown electrical connection in front of radiator to give myself some extra room to work. Seems every job on this engine the working space is at a minimum


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[mtnride]

Sorry for the multiple posts, thermostat is on driver’s side directly below air filter box.
Happy wrenching


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[mtnride]

They replaced the thermostat only I guess. The thermostat is not available as a single item. You have to buy the thermostat with the housing. Maybe it’s a different story where you are.


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I replaced it and yes you have to buy the thermostat and housing and gasket is included which is what is listed on receipt


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[mtnride]

Just called my local VW dealership and they had one for the same price as I was finding online and could pick it up and get the job done instead of waiting. Exactly the same part as I took out


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[mtnride]

You will need the coolant if you replace the thermostat and housing (one unit) mine also came with gasket included. The electrical connection is easy to get to, maybe you start with a can of electrical cleaner in a spray can and clean thermostat housing side and wiring side. Clear codes and see if thermostat if the hard fault sticks after cleaning electrical connections. It will depend on how bad the "corrosion" is. You should be able to look at the wiring side for evidence of corrosion on the connector. Connection point on thermostat housing probably couldn't be inspected without removing at which point you might as well replace it. If it were me I'd replace housing first before replacing electrical wiring harness.

 

[mtnride]

As NickyT states above thermostat is a wear item, I replaced mine at 125,000 and the wife's Saturday at 152,000, both times had sudden overheating issues and both times new thermostat fixed issue.

 

[mtnride]

Here is the old thermostat and housing and as you can see the pins for the electrical connection are tiny and could easily be damaged by corrosion. This unit doesn’t appear to be damaged in any way but justoutlived is useful life

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[mtnride]

First time I did it all from underneath (huge PIA as it was extremely difficult to access top screws and hose clamp) Saturday by removing air box cover and filter you can more easily get to everything from above and below. If you look at the thermostat pic, the plug with the cross on it is the drain clamp your hoses from the radiator, open plus and that will drain just the engine block.
Good luck[emoji373]


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[mtnride]

I knew I forgot something when I finished[emoji481][emoji16]


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